Reagan Appoints Habib as Envoy for Central America : Denies Slurring Congressmen on Nicaragua Aid

WASHINGTON — President Reagan today named diplomatic trouble-shooter Philip C. Habib as his special envoy to Central America and denied he was impugning the motives of congressmen opposed to his $100-million aid request for anti-government rebels in Nicaragua.

Reagan, appearing in the White House press room to announce Habib’s new appointment, was peppered with questions about his recent statement that congressional opponents of the aid could allow communism to start “lapping at our own borders.”

Asked if opponents were “unpatriotic” or “dupes,” Reagan said, “I have never believed that--if you mean I was assigning any motive to them.

‘Only Talking Facts’

“I was only talking facts about what would be the inevitable result. Either we do what I just talked about doing (give aid to the contras ) or we have a communist state here in the Americas.”

Reagan said Habib will travel to El Salvador next week to confer with President Jose Napoleon Duarte on Duarte’s offer to hold peace talks with rebels in his country if Nicaragua’s leaders hold simultaneous talks with guerrillas in their country.

Habib said there are no plans now for him to meet with Nicaraguan officials.

The Reagan Administration’s plan to aid the rebels in Nicaragua faces growing opposition in Congress. But one source on Capitol Hill said today’s announcement “changes the chemistry up here. Obviously, Reagan ordered the Habib trip because of the complaints he has been hearing from Capitol Hill.”

Diplomacy First

Promising that the United States will “pursue change through diplomatic means,” Reagan said, “but let there be no misunderstanding--Ambassador Habib’s efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution must be accompanied by an increasing level of pressure on the Nicaraguan communists.”

Habib compared the situation in Nicaragua with developments in the Philippines, where he was recently sent on a diplomatic mission by Reagan.

“In both cases, I think it’s fair to say that one can pursue a different course, that is to say, you can pursue a course which could and should bring about a democratic solution . . . peacefully and through negotiation and discussion,” he said.

Filipino Comparison

Reagan said the Nicaraguan people, “just like the Filipino people, have the right to self-determination through democracy. And we in this Administration and in Congress must now decide whether Nicaragua is to be the next staging ground for subversion, terrorism and Soviet-communist expansion on our doorstep.”

Reagan, trying to marshal support for his embattled plan, announced Thursday he would make a nationwide speech about Nicaragua.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said today that Reagan will make the nationally televised speech on March 16 and will meet with members of Congress almost daily next week in anticipation of a March 19 House vote on the issue.

He said Reagan had telephoned several Democrats who supported him on this week’s votes in House committees and expressed the hope that they will vote for the package on the floor.

Speakes said the White House has “certainly seen” the criticism by some members of Congress that the Administration is hurting its cause by harsh rhetoric on the issue.

“It is not our intention to question anybody’s patriotism,” he said.