TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/021389/02138900.041

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 5KB | 80 lines

NATION, Page 37

Dan Quayle's Diplomatic Debut

In his first foray abroad, he avoids mistakes -- and Communists

By Dan Goodgame/CARACAS


    The scene was rich with possibility. In the front row of the
Caracas theater where Venezuela's newly elected President Carlos
Andres Perez would be inaugurated sat U.S. Vice President Dan
Quayle, neophyte diplomat, basher of Communism and self-described
"cheerleader" for democracy. A mere six seats to Quayle's right sat
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the bearded antithesis of everything
Quayle stands for. Was a confrontation reminiscent of Richard
Nixon's 1959 Moscow "kitchen debate" with Nikita Khrushchev in the
offing?

    In the end, Quayle and Castro exchanged nothing more than an
occasional glance. After Perez was sworn in, Castro, flanked by a
huge entourage, swept out of the hall while a crowd of Venezuelans
gawked and cheered. Quayle, under strict instructions from the
White House not to send any inadvertent diplomatic signals by
conversing with Communists, was hustled quietly out a side door.
But not before a group of young Venezuelan women in the balcony
begged him to stop for a picture, squealing "Ooooh! You are so
handsome!" Teased about the incident at a press conference shortly
afterward, Quayle frowned and grew testy: "I've had enough of that
back home."

    Quayle might be excused for feeling a bit frustrated by the
focus on his looks. Well aware of his image as a lightweight, he
carefully prepped for his first solo mission as a diplomat, a
three-day, largely ceremonial trip to Venezuela and El Salvador.
Still, the Vice President's handlers were nervous about a possible
blunder. When the chartered plane that was to carry nearly 50
reporters along on the trip was abruptly canceled, there were
suspicions that the idea was to limit press coverage.

    As it turned out, Quayle performed better than even he might
have expected. He committed some small gaffes: tempting fate by
tasting tropical fruit at a Caracas fruit stand and rapping former
President Jimmy Carter for "complicating matters" by discussing
Central American peace plans with Nicaraguan President Daniel
Ortega. Quayle said he did not talk with his boss during the trip
and noted that the President was suffering from laryngitis. He then
took an unintentional swipe at Ronald Reagan by adding that the
former President sometimes used a sore throat as an excuse for
canceling press conferences.

    Francisco Aguilar-Urbina, an adviser to Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias, said at first that his delegation had low expectations
of Quayle: "The impression we had was that they put him in a drawer
during the campaign." But he later said Quayle won "very positive
reviews" in his talks with Latin leaders. The Vice President
impressed Brazil's President Jose Sarney by asking about the
country's November elections. "You mean in Brazil?" replied Sarney,
evidently astonished that Quayle was aware of the upcoming vote.
Even Ortega had kind if somewhat condescending words: "I thought
he showed an ability to understand the political reality of Latin
America."

    In El Salvador, Quayle did have a substantive message about
the Bush Administration's policies toward Central America. Like
Vice President Bush in 1983, Quayle warned Salvadoran military
officers and rightist politicians that the recent upsurge in
political murders must be reversed if the U.S. is to continue
pumping $545 million a year into the country. Quayle also
encouraged Salvador's President Jose Napoleon Duarte to reconsider
his rejection of the leftist rebels' request that the March
elections be postponed so they can take part.

    Quayle's mission was most useful in broadening the horizons of
an insular young politician whose horizons until recently did not
reach much beyond Indiana. During the campaign, Quayle bragged
about the foreign leaders he knew, but those were chiefly from the
NATO allies and Israel. In the rest of the world, he has many
people to meet and much to master before he can be trusted to
venture beyond a carefully prepared script. On last week's tour
Quayle persuaded at least a few observers that he might be up to
the task. As his official plane flew back to Washington, the
handful of journalists aboard helped the Vice President celebrate
his 42nd birthday by giving him a cake and a present -- a
Venezuelan bank note inscribed with: FIRST FOREIGN TRIP: QUAYLE
FAILS TO SCREW UP!