Rebels Force Electricity Cutoff; Fighting Minor During 2 Holiday Periods : Salvador Truce Ends in Sabotage of Power Lines

Leftist rebels marked the end of two holiday season cease-fires by blowing up two electrical power pylons Thursday. The action, a relatively mild incident, forced the country’s electricity company to cut power to much of central El Salvador while the damage was being repaired.

The cease-fires--three days over Christmas and another three days at New Year’s--were the first of their kind in five years of civil war. The second one ended Wednesday at midnight.

Both brief periods were marred by skirmishes between the armed forces and the guerrillas.

The armed forces press office said that the rebels blew up electric-power pylons Thursday morning near Nejapa and San Rafael Cedros in central El Salvador. Sabotage of power equipment is a favorite tactic of the guerrillas.

The electrical grid that includes this capital city was shut down from noon until about 3 p.m. while repairs were made.

The cease-fires were declared unilaterally last month by leaders of the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the umbrella organization under which five guerrilla bands are fighting the U.S.-backed government of President Jose Napoleon Duarte. Civilian officials in Duarte’s government welcomed the break in violence, but high-ranking armed-forces officers never officially said they would reciprocate by refraining from offensive actions during the truce periods.

Throughout the holidays, guerrilla radio broadcasts complained that the army took advantage of the truce to penetrate zones dominated by the insurgents. Over the New Year’s holiday, the army ambushed a guerrilla political meeting in the eastern province of La Union, killing five insurgents who were offering political lectures to local residents.

The government also kept troops in several towns in Chalatenango province that are deep in guerrilla-dominated territory. Farmers in Chalatenango reported hearing several mortar barrages during truce periods.

For their part, the rebels shot at a small unit of soldiers in Concepcion Quetzaltepeque, wounding several government soldiers. Rebel radio said the incident occurred after the soldiers interrupted a delivery of guerrilla Christmas cards to townsfolk.

On New Year’s Eve, guerrillas also ambushed a patrol of soldiers guarding the barracks of the 1st Infantry Brigade in San Salvador. Two soldiers were wounded and a civilian caught in the crossfire was killed. Two rebels also died in the attack, according to the armed forces spokesman.

Little happened on the battlefield between the two-short cease-fire periods. On Dec. 30, a rebel column tried to blow up a cement plant near the northwestern town of Metapan. Two soldiers were killed repelling the attack.

Thursday was also the last day of a 13-day government-rebel agreement to allow civilian traffic to flow unimpeded on the nation’s highways. The traffic truce was reached at the urging of the Roman Catholic Church’s mediators during a session of peace talks between government and rebel representatives in November. The rebels, who often snarl traffic on the country’s roads by threatening to burn cars, trucks and buses, have not yet announced whether they intend to start blocking traffic again.

Despite the free flow of traffic, the army and the guerrillas both maintained roadblocks on various routes during the 13-day holiday period, with some rebels demanding what they called a “road tax” to allow vehicles to pass.

Government soldiers searched buses and examined the identification documents of travelers.

Cease-fire talk is a sore subject among armed forces officials. They contend that the guerrillas take advantage of any break in the action to replenish their armaments and food supplies.

The cease-fire issue has made the already-suspicious army even more wary of peace talks, which were initiated by Duarte in October and continued into a second round in November.

No date has been announced for a third session, although Catholic Archbishop Arturo Rivera y Damas of San Salvador has said it will take place later this month.

Meanwhile, the Salvadoran armed forces are in the midst of their promotion season. End of the year changes included the elevation of the armed forces chief of staff, Adolfo Blandon, from colonel to general. Blandon has been considered a supporter of Duarte but took a hard-line stand against the recent holiday truce.

Among nine lieutenant colonels promoted to full colonel were: Sigifredo Ochoa, a once-mutinous commander exiled to Washington for more than a year but who now leads troops of the 4th Infantry Division in rebel-dominated Chalatenango province; Julio Cesar Yanes, commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade in battle-ridden Usulutan province, and Adalberto Cruz, shipped off to diplomatic exile in Washington last summer for his opposition to Duarte’s presidency.