The World - News from April 17, 1989

Communist rebels in the Philippines said they would declare a cease-fire in their 20-year insurgency and hold peace talks if President Corazon Aquino vowed to close U.S. military bases in the country by 1991. The rebel National Democratic Front, a confederation of 12 underground organizations including the Communist Party and its military wing, the New People’s Army, made the proposal in a statement delivered to the media. The statement accused the United States of using its six military installations in the Philippines to “wage war and aggression” in the Pacific and said the bases are “a major stumbling block to peace” in the country.