Reagan Urges Congress to Give Contras More Aid

WASHINGTON — President Reagan on Saturday sought to take advantage of what he sees as increased American popular support for the Nicaraguan rebels and called on Congress to give the contras more aid to fight Managua’s leftist government.

“Some tell me that the people in this country just don’t care about the freedom fighters. But I don’t think that’s true. The more people know about the Sandinista Communists, the more they support the freedom fighters,” Reagan said in his weekly radio address.

“We have seen support grow dramatically as the American people learn the facts about Nicaragua,” Reagan added in his five-minute talk, delivered from Camp David, Md.

Although the White House has not yet formally put its request to Congress, spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Tuesday that the Administration is considering increasing its request for aid to the rebels from $105 million in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 to a larger amount over 18 months. This would extend the aid two months into the next administration.

The spokesman said no figures had been decided upon, but he mentioned a possible request in the $125-million-to-$140-million range.

Reagan on Saturday did not mention the congressional hearings into his Administration’s sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of some of the profits to the contras. Nor did he cite any figures to back up his claim of a dramatic rise in support for the rebels.

White House officials said last week that Reagan pollster Richard B. Wirthlin has detected new backers for aid to the contras, following the testimony by Lt. Col. Oliver North and his impassioned pleas for rebel aid in the hearings.

But a New York Times/CBS news poll published Saturday revealed little change in American sentiment toward providing military and other aid to the rebels.

The poll showed 51% of those responding as being opposed to such assistance and 35% in favor.

In his address, Reagan accused the Sandinista government of fostering subversion in the democracies of Central America, and warned that nothing less is at stake than the Soviet domination of Central America.

“The Soviets . . . know that the freedom fighters are all that stand between them and domination of the entire region,” he said.

Reagan pointed to the aid approved last year by Congress to bolster his request that it continue.

In her Democratic response, Rep. Lindy Boggs of Louisiana accused the Administration of “an unwillingness . . . to negotiate, to compromise and to meet halfway on the important issues that divide us.”

She said she was referring to the Administration’s dealings with Congress on the budget deficit, trade and foreign policy matters.