The World - News from Dec. 6, 1987

Having made no progress as a mediator, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo of Nicaragua said he will insist that the Sandinista government and Contra rebel opposition address each other directly to speed efforts to end their war. “Every day, 50 Nicaraguan youths die in the mountains,” Obando said. “If we continue with indirect talks, this will go on for a long time.” Obando, the archbishop of Managua, said he had been unable to mediate even a limited Christmas truce between the two sides in talks earlier in the week in the Dominican Republic.