Freelance Diplomacy

In Costa Rica's admirable if not entirely unblemished history of democratic government, no figure stands taller than diminutive (5 ft. 3 in.), scrappy Jose Figueres Ferrer, 64. At the head of a ragtag band of rebels in 1948, "Don Pepe" routed a Communist military coalition that had tried to seize power illegally. He banned the Communist party, abolished the army (Costa Rica has not had one since), instituted many social reforms and, after 18 months, restored power to the elected President. Figueres was elected to the presidency in his own right in 1953 and again last year. Educated at M.l.T. and married to an American, he became an outspoken supporter of the U.S. Opponents frequently charged, in fact, that he was too pro-Yankee.

With that sort of record, Pepe Figueres seems a most unlikely target for a Guatemala-style plot engineered by CIA agents and aimed at his overthrow. Yet that is precisely what Costa Rican officials claim has happened in the tiny (pop. 1,700,000) Central American republic. They do not accuse Washington of sponsoring the scheme, but they make no secret of their suspicions about some officials who happened to be working for the U.S.

Astonishing Question. The plot began to take shape in 1968, when one Earl J. Williamson was assigned to the American embassy in San Jose as a political officer. Williamson, 55, also served as CIA station chief. While he was attached to the U.S. embassy in Havana during the Batista era, he had married the vivacious niece of a wealthy Cuban sugar baron. The Williamsons moved in wealthy San Jose circles, where Pepe Figueres was considered a "Communist" by some because of his social reforms. Williamson and his wife made no effort to hide their dislike for the President--particularly after Don Pepe. having already established relations with Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary, moved to exchange ambassadors with the Soviet Union as well. (Costa Rica has been selling its surplus coffee to the Russians for U.S. dollars for two years.)

Last October the Costa Rican government received intelligence reports that Williamson was actively abetting a right-wing antigovernment plot. The State Department was asked to quietly arrange his transfer. Nothing was done.

Shortly after New Year's, Costa Rican Ambassador to Washington Rafael A. Zuniga visited Assistant Secretary of State Charles Meyer and bluntly asked: "Is the U.S. plotting the overthrow of Don Pepe?" Meyer expressed astonishment, and a few days later, State Department Troubleshooter C. Allan Stewart was dispatched to San Jose. Still Williamson was not recalled.

Fully expecting a coup in early January, Figueres' government put the 3,000-man civil guard on full alert. Contingency plans called for Figueres to be whisked to the hills to protect him from assassination. The coup did not come off, but the following week San Jose once again requested Williamson's recall. Last week the CIA man and his wife finally departed. At the same time, Ambassador Walter C. Ploeser, a conservative former insurance executive, began cutting the AID program's personnel and trimming the Peace Corps (though Costa Ricans wanted it expanded). He also says he plans to boost security personnel to maintain surveillance of the Russians when they come.

Overzealous Actions. Washington sources suggest that Figueres engineered the whole plot story to get rid of Williamson and Ploeser, a Nixon appointee. Don Pepe is, after all, an emotional man; only two weeks ago, he slapped a student for razzing him.

In Washington, Williamson was ordered to make no comment on the situation. Ploeser may indeed be recalled before long--but at Foggy Bottom's pleasure, not Don Pepe's. And a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, after a closed hearing, found no evidence that the U.S. Government had "attempted to overthrow" the Figueres government, although it did cite "overzealous actions" by unnamed officials.

One U.S. embassy official in San Jose blamed the Administration's exceptionally low profile in Latin America for the diplomatic debacle. "We are floating in the policy of no policy," he said, "and a lot of guys start to freelance." To raise the profile a bit. Secretary of State William Rogers will be going to San Jose next month to attend the Latin American Foreign Ministers conference. For his part, Don Pepe has asked the Russians, who were scheduled to open their embassy this week, to put it off for a while.

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