Clinton's Envoy Greets US Troops in Nicaragua 


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Saturday June 5 1:23 AM ET 

Clinton's Envoy Greets U.S. Troops In Nicaragua

CASA BLANCA, Nicaragua (Reuters) - U.S. troops building a new school in a
Nicaraguan mountain hamlet got a morale boost Friday with a visit from
President Clinton's special envoy to Latin America.

Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay joined U.S. Ambassador Lino Gutierrez and
Nicaraguan dignitaries in welcoming 120 U.S. reservists who arrived in
Nicaragua last month to help build schools and clinics in areas damaged last
year by Hurricane Mitch.

``One of the seeds we're planting today is the seed of cooperation between
our militaries,'' MacKay told reservists and townspeople in Casa Blanca, 120
miles (195 km) north of Managua. ``I don't know what will come of it, but I
know it will be very important to our futures.''

Some 140 Casa Blanca schoolchildren have attended classes in the shell of
their three-room schoolhouse, which was devastated by Mitch's floods last
October and November.

The new school will have six classrooms and is among several projects around
Central America under way as part of Project New Horizons, the second phase
of a U.S. military humanitarian project to help the impoverished region
rebuild from one of the worst Atlantic storms this century.

Between 200 and 300 doctors and engineers from the reserve forces of all
branches of the U.S. military will rotate into Nicaragua every two weeks
through August, with similar operations in Honduras, El Salvador and
Guatemala.

Despite a tense history between the two countries, including the U.S.-backed
Contra uprising against the Sandinista regime during the previous decade,
U.S. troops said they have felt welcome in the Nicaraguan countryside.

``It's a very rewarding experience,'' said Maj. Pat Turk, a registered nurse
from Ohio who will remain in Nicaragua to oversee medical operations for the
duration of the project.

Her duties include treating civilians for typical illnesses such as
parasites and infections in remote villages such as Casa Blanca.

Villagers said the troops presence and the tangible results of their work
had helped restore hope in the aftermath of the disaster.

``They are helping us,'' 10-year-old Juan Uriel, a fourth- grader, told
Reuters. ``We will be able to go to school and one day be something more
than we are.''

MacKay, who accompanied Clinton to Central America in March, began an
eight-day tour Tuesday of areas hit hard by Mitch.
 
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