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Subject: Salvadoran Guerrillas, Rightists Raising Doubts on Peace Pact;Hard-Liners on
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 92 09:14:31 EST
Message-ID: <28.1992Nov1.091431@AmeriCast.com>

Salvadoran Guerrillas, Rightists Raising Doubts on Peace
Pact;Hard-Liners on Both Sides Demand Reversal of Concessions<By
Douglas Farah=Washington Post Foreign Service=

GUARJILA, El Salvador - Miguel Angel, a 26-year-old guerrilla
caressing the machine gun he had carried through mountains for
the past six years, said he was scared of the future. He was be-
ing asked to give up his gun as part of the peace agreements end-
ing this nation's 12-year civil war, agreements he said have
brought him virtually nothing.

"I do not have any land, and the army is still full of people who
want to kill me," he said Friday as he and his companions sat in
the shade in this small town in north-central El Salvador, wait-
ing to turn in their guns as part of the accord-mandated demobil-
ization of the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front
(FMLN). "All I can do is go back to my family and see what hap-
pens."

Angel, who was wounded fighting in San Salvador during the FMLN's
spectacular 1989 offensive there, is typical of the many guerril-
la combatants who do not trust the fragile peace agreements. They
believe their leaders may not have gotten enough in return for
the only thing they have to offer under the United Nations-backed
accord - disarmament. About 1,500 combatants, including Angel,
demobilized Friday, leaving only 40 percent of the 8,000 FMLN
troops still armed in 15 camps across the country.

The leftist guerrillas' feeling is mirrored by some in the far
right, which is accusing President Alfredo Cristiani, whom it
previously supported, of selling out the country in the agree-
ments by promising the FMLN land and legal status as a political
party, and by accepting a purge of the military's most notorious
human rights abusers.

On both sides, the fragile trust that had enabled the bitter
enemies earlier this year to negotiate an end to the vicious
civil war has eroded as the hard-line faithful in each camp
demand that their leadership renege on previous concessions.

"There is a fundamental problem in that both sides had to present
this as a victory when the agreements were signed, to gain sup-
port," said a veteran diplomat. "Now, both sides see they really
have to make concessions, that there is no winner, and some are
trying to slam on the brakes."

Because of the continuing delays, last week the deadline for full
FMLN demobilization, which was to have been completed by the end
of the week, was moved back to Dec. 15. In an effort to keep the
peace process moving along, the United Nations sent Undersecre-
tary General Alvaro de Soto, who mediated the peace negotiations,
and Marrack Goulding, the U.N. officer overseeing the implementa-
tion of the accord, to San Salvador Friday.

But despite the delays, both sides have taken small steps to keep
the process alive. The FMLN demobilized 1,500 combatants Friday
as agreed to in the timetable, although the 188 disarmed here in-
cluded at least 30 young women and old people who had merely lent
logistical support to the rebels. The FMLN high command also for-
mally asked its people to stop illegally occupying land.

And yesterday the government began to distribute state-owned land
to demobilized FMLN combatants, an accord-ordered program that
has been a major point of contention since the amount of land
needed for the former guerrillas far exceeds the amount available
for the government to buy.

But despite these actions, each side has expressed fear that its
opponent is secretly planning further aggression. Many in the far
right and some in the military believe the FMLN has no intention
of disarming and will mount an offensive to seize power as soon
as the army has been reduced.

Vice President Francisco Merino, who represents the hard-line
faction of Cristiani's Republican Nationalist Alliance (Arena),
publicly warned last week of an impending FMLN offensive and ac-
cused the guerrillas of plotting to assassinate their own leaders
to have an excuse to resume the war.

To the FMLN - especially its mid-level commanders and combatants
- the opposition's insistence that the guerrillas completely
disarm before "I do not have any land, and the army is still full
of people who want to kill me."<

- FMLN guerrilla Miguel Angel>

the military is purged and the FMLN is granted legal political
status is evidence that the far right plans an extermination cam-
paign once the rebels have no way to defend themselves.

Bernard W. Aronson, assistant U.S. secretary of state for inter-
American affairs, said in a satellite hookup with reporters in
San Salvador that "the U.S. and the entire international communi-
ty will use every possible law enforcement tool and investigatory
tool to capture and fully prosecute anyone who commits violence
against the peace process. . . . No one is going to escape if
they carry out violence."

At the center of the storm is the military, still the most power-
ful institution in the country.  Cristiani's decision to suspend
its restructuring and purges until the FMLN is demobilized was
widely interpreted by diplomats and analysts here as a way to
keep a lid on growing military restlessness. The officers to be
purged were selected by a panel of three civilians, agreed to by
both sides.

According to sources familiar with the list, 70 officers, includ-
ing the defense minister and the deputy defense minister, will be
forced out. Another 40 officers will be reassigned.

The military, according to knowledgeable sources, asked Cristiani
to delay the purges, which were scheduled to begin Nov. 22, for
several months, until most of the senior officers scheduled to be
removed will have retired anyway.

In this hamlet, an FMLN stronghold throughout the war, the rebels
turned in their guns with little sense of triumph or emotion, re-
ceiving in return temporary identification cards.

"The people understand what we are doing, but of course they are
scared," said commander Douglas Santamaria, who spent more than
20 years fighting, as he surveyed his troops lining up on a dusty
soccer field. "For many, this is the only life they have ever
known, and the question is what comes next."< 02:27 11-01C9999--
---

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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