WASHINGTON -- Four months after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America, President Clinton begins a visit to the region today with an offer of aid he hopes will help people there and at home.

During his four-day tour of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, Clinton will propose -- subject to congressional approval -- another $956 million in aid to Central America and Caribbean nations hurt by Hurricanes Mitch and Georges.

That is more than triple the $305 million already spent and would make it the largest ever U.S. government aid package for a foreign disaster.

Clinton also will offer to lift tariffs on certain textile products from the region that use U.S. materials, an offer intended to help create and sustain sorely needed jobs there.

The United States has a humanitarian interest in helping neighbors hit by what National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger called "the most destructive national disaster ever to hit the Western Hemisphere." It also has a national interest in helping the countries rebuild, Clinton administration officials said.

Unless Washington helps the impoverished countries, homelessness, hunger and illness could lead to renewed social unrest and violence that could threaten fragile democracies and drive more illegal immigrants to the United States.

Also, the countries must recover if they are to continue to buy U.S. goods and services. Before the October hurricane, U.S. exports to Central America had grown to $7.5 billion a year, triple the total in 1990.

Explaining the president's goals, Berger said: "He's going to advance our effort to aid the region's recovery and reconstruction, and to support its continued transition to peace, democracy and open markets. And he's going because our moral responsibility as a neighbor to this region coincides perfectly with our interests as a nation."

Central America is still reeling from the effects of the hurricane that killed 9,000 and left 9,000 missing. Up to 3 million people were left homeless. Hundreds of bridges and thousands of miles of roads were destroyed. Entire crops of bananas, rice and beans were lost. Public health facilities were damaged and water treatment facilities ruined.

The United States has provided food, water, temporary shelter, and help rebuilding roads, bridges and other facilities. U.S. helicopters and military personnel rescued nearly 1,000 people. The $305 million already spent on the U.S. aid effort is more than the $297 million spent to help Central Americans recover from hurricanes, earthquakes and all other disasters in the previous 35 years.

Brian Atwood, administrator of the Agency for International Development, said the region is at "the most crucial moment," when people will either be assured that life is going to get better or decide to challenge their governments or leave.

U.S. officials say about 100,000 illegal immigrants come from Central America each year.

"And it could rise exponentially, particularly from Honduras," said a senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We have evidence of significant out-migrations from Honduras into El Salvador and Mexico, obviously trying to make their way farther north. It's directly related to the devastation there."

Pub Date: 3/08/99