President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua called Reagan’s speech “full of lies.”
Reagan said in his speech that Nicaragua was one of the counties where Marxism and Leninism is “at war with the people,” and said there 3,500 Soviet block and Cuban military personnel there.
Ortega said, “To set the record straight I will tell you there are 700 military, all of them Cubans.”
French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas saw in the two super power speeches “a convergence on the regional problem.”
He called the Reagan speech an “opening” but said the tone of Shevardnadze’s address was more moderate than Reagan’s speech.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Reagan’s speech was an “encouraging opening” in view of his summit meeting with Gorbachev.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India first declined comment on the Reagan address, and when pressed, said: “I thought my not commenting was in fact comment enough.”
Asked if he was more or less optimistic about the ReaganGorbachev summit after the speech, Gandhi said, “A little less.”
“We really want them to discuss disarmament. That is the prime issue. Regional conflicts can be sorted out at other levels. Disarmament cannot,” Gandhi said.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 1, 1985
