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Argentine Calls for Consistent Policy by U.S.

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Associated Press

Argentine President Raul Alfonsin, who disagrees with President Reagan over U.S. support of Nicaraguan rebels, cautioned Congress today against accepting the intervention of some powers in Central American affairs while rejecting the intervention of others.

In a speech to a joint meeting of the House and Senate, Alfonsin said that “the principles of territorial integrity and nonintervention should be respected and universally applied” in seeking a peaceful solution to the turmoil in the region.

“That is to say, these principles should not signify the nonintervention of some while the intervention of others is accepted,” he said.

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Only a few dozen of the 535 members of Congress, including probably less than a fifth of the 100-member Senate, attended the session in the House chamber.

Alfonsin also called for “specific guarantees that the countries of the region will not meddle in one another’s affairs.”

He said Argentina supports efforts of the Contadora group of nations in seeking stability in Central America. Alfonsin did not mention specific countries in the region, where the United States is backing El Salvador’s struggle against a leftist insurgency and supporting rebels against the Marxist-led government of Nicaragua.

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He said the search for stability should follow “the principle of self-determination as recognized by contemporary international law, freely exercised through the will of the majority.”

It should also encompass “the existence of pluralistic democracies,” he said.

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