Nicaraguan Group Gets Visas; Consults With Law Professors

A group of Nicaraguan officials visited the Law School this week, a month after the cancellation of an earlier trip because of difficulties in obtaining visas.

When the visas were finally granted a week ago, the Nicaraguans' trip was hastily rescheduled.

The six-member delegation, headed by the president of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, flew into Boston Wednesday and met with Law School professors before holding an open forum Thursday night. The Nicaraguans then left for Princeton, New York, and Washington, where they were planning to me.: with a number of congressmen.

The purpose of the Nicaraguans' visit is to study the American electoral system in preparation for the Nicaraguan elections scheduled for 1985. The delegation has visited 17 other countries in the past three years.

A State Department official contacted yesterday said that the visas were granted despite the Reagan Administration's opposition to the policies of the Nicaraguan Sandinista government.

"You have to question how appropriate it is for there to be a large, high level delegation coming here," added the official, who insisted on anonymity.

The Nicaraguans spent Thursday in open-ended meetings with Law School constitutional experts, discussing the American electoral process. In the evening, more than 150 law students and faculty members attended the forum sponsored by the Law School Council.

Frances E. Olsen, a student at the Law School and one of the organizers of the forum, said, "Since the government had been so capricious about granting or refusing visas, we had no confidence that they would be allowed to come until the evening before."

She described the afternoon meeting as "divided between us asking them questions and them asking us questions--it was very frank and open."

Alvaro Arguello, an adviser to the Nicaraguan Council of State, opened the evening forum with an address on Nicaragua's plans for the electoral process.

The delegation then proceeded to field often-hostile questions from the audience.

For instance, one law student criticized the lack of freedom of the press in Nicaragua. Magda Enriquez, a member of the executive committee of the national women's association, responded that Nicaragua is in a state of war, and that even the United States has imposed censorship during security crises.

The delegation also included Roberto Arugello, president of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court; Mariano Fiallos, president of the National University; and Francisco Campbell, first secretary of the Nicaraguan embassy in Washington.