Shultz Sees ‘Rare Moment’ for Arms Pact

WASHINGTON — In an optimistic world report, Secretary of State George P. Shultz told Congress today that there may be “a rare moment of opportunity” for the United States and the Soviet Union to reach an agreement to reduce nuclear weapons.

Even though the Soviets challenge U.S. interests in Latin America and elsewhere, Shultz said, the Reagan Administration must pursue “constructive relations” with Moscow because of the nuclear threat.

He told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the summit meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Geneva last November showed that “constructive negotiations” are possible.

Shultz gave no details to back up his optimistic forecast. He did not say how Reagan would respond to Gorbachev’s post-summit proposal for eliminating nuclear weapons in space and on Earth by the end of the century.

‘We Have to Aspire’

A committee member, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), asked Shultz if hopes were not too high. Shultz disagreed, saying: “We have to aspire in order to achieve great things. We do not want to get into the habit of saying ‘Let’s lower our expectations.’ ”

The State Department reportedly is urging the White House privately to offer the Soviets matching concessions. The Pentagon, on the other hand, is believed to favor standing firm on past U.S. proposals, while the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is closer to the State Department’s position.

Meanwhile, no date has been set for a second summit meeting this year between Reagan and Gorbachev. U.S. officials said Tuesday that they doubt a decision will be made before the Soviets hold their Communist Party Congress later this month.

Shultz said the summit agenda would embrace the same four sets of issues that were on the table in November: arms reductions, regional conflicts, human rights and U.S.-Soviet relations.

‘Aspiration and Realism’

“We approached the Geneva summit in a spirit of both aspiration and realism,” Shultz said. “We will bring that spirit to our negotiations with the Soviets through the coming year.”

Meanwhile, he gave the committee a glowing report on Latin America. Pointing to a map, he said more than 90% of the people in the region and in the Caribbean enjoy democratic government compared to less than one-third in the early 1980s.

In the last six years, he said, elected civilian leaders have replaced authoritarian regimes in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay.

Shultz said the most immediate danger to democracy in Central America was in “communist” Nicaragua. He said the Reagan Administration will not abandon the “democratic resistance” there.