San Diego

Approximately 30 opponents of President Reagan’s ban on trade with Nicaragua, which took effect at noon Tuesday, protested outside the Federal Building.

Reagan’s ban, ordered after Congress refused to fund further aid to Nicaraguan rebels, is “totally unconstitutional,” said protest co-organizer Tanja Winter, 58, of La Jolla, an activist in the local peace group called Friends of Nicaraguan Culture. “In order for President Reagan to be able to declare an embargo, he had to declare a national emergency, (and yet) it is clear Nicaragua is not a threat to the United States,” she said.

Winter and several other protesters gave bags of Nicaraguan ground coffee and bananas to aides of Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and Reps. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) and Bill Lowery (R-San Diego).