To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited central America; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not yet had an opportunity to visit central America. I visited Belize on 5 to 7 October. I hope to visit other countries in the region in due course.

I hope that the Minister has an opportunity to visit Nicaragua. However, in the event that he might not get there, can he say how much financial assistance the Government are prepared to give to the Nicaraguan Government to ensure free and fair elections next year? Will he consider giving some financial assistance for the training of the officers who have to run the elections? Were not those two of the areas that the British observer noted as having a distinct lack of resources?

I am glad to note the hon. Gentleman's concern that there should be free and fair elections in Nicaragua. I hope that that view is shared throughout the House. I hope that the elections will allow equal rights to both the Government and Opposition and a fair opportunity for both of access to the media. These matters are primarily for the Nicaraguan Government, but we have made clear to them our concern that there should be free and fair elections.

When considering the forthcoming elections in Nicaragua, will my hon. Friend exercise extreme caution in the light of the limitations on free speech in that country, its record on giving fair broadcasting time to the various contenders in elections and its disgraceful record on political prisoners?

My hon. Friend voices some of the widely held concerns about the election outlook for Nicaragua. We are sending an official observer—the highly respected Dr. David Browning—and we shall await with considerable interest his views on the conduct of the elections.

Will the Minister report on the outcome of the Prime Minister's meeting with President Cristiani of E1 Salvador in London last month? Will he tell us whether the Prime Minister condemned the increasing violation of human rights in that country where it is estimated that 296 people have either disappeared or been assassinated in the first three months of the ARENA Government? If, as I suspect, the Prime Minister did not voice that condemnation then, will the Minister now do so on behalf of the Prime Minister and her Government?

I have made clear to their Foreign Secretary our anxiety about human rights. We condemn abuses of human rights wherever they occur. I hope that the whole House will join me in deploring the particularly reprehensible recent example when the 23-year-old daughter of the commander of the armed forces' centre of studies was shot in her car going to university. That is a breach of human rights which deserves universal condemnation.