Would Boost Aid to Contras, Du Pont States

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont IV told a Los Angeles audience Monday that, if elected President, he would push for increased funding for the Nicaraguan contras and urge U.S. allies to break off diplomatic relations with the Sandinista government.

“The primary lesson of Vietnam was that the dominoes fell,” Du Pont told a receptive group of about 300 at a World Affairs Council luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel. “Perhaps the greatest service” that Lt. Col. Oliver L. North provided during the Iran-contra hearings was “to give our countrymen a vivid tutorial on the danger of a permanent communist presence in Central America,” the former Delaware governor said.

Du Pont, an heir to the chemical company fortune, received the support of only 3% of the respondents in the Gallup Poll’s latest nationwide survey, putting him sixth among seven contenders. But he is seeking to galvanize his campaign with plain-spoken, aggressive stands.

Against Farm Subsidies

For example, he has said he would seek to abolish farm subsidies. He would also put 4 million welfare recipients to work on government jobs. He backs mandatory drug testing for school children.

In the first of a series of statements on foreign policy, Du Pont on Monday painted a stark portrait of a Red menace. Nicaragua joined South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Angola, Ethiopia and Mozambique as “Soviet successes” in recent years, he said.

Du Pont was unimpressed with a questioner’s suggestion that the Iran-contra affair showed the danger of a foreign policy being run by ideologues and the need for more influence by “foreign policy experts.”

“Don’t you sometimes wish the Congress of the United States were staffed by foreign policy experts?” Du Pont sarcastically retorted to strong applause.

Peace Efforts Dismissed

He added that, although “I don’t like” some of the actions of the National Security Council that were disclosed during the Iran-contra hearings, including lying to Congress and potential violations of the law, “I kind of do like Ollie North.”

“If America was to go to war, I want Ollie North on our side,” he said, receiving mild applause.

Du Pont dismissed Central American peace efforts initiated by Latin American countries as “a fiction.”