The World : Cleric Hails Salvador Army

San Salvador Archbishop Arturo Rivera y Damas heaped unprecedented praise on the nation’s army for its defense of the March 31 legislative and municipal election results in the face of rightist attempts to have them annulled. “There have been few times, perhaps, where we had seen in the armed forces’ top leadership such a clear profession of democratic faith,” he said. The praise was seen as a morale boost for the armed forces and an acknowledgement that the military--the traditional power in El Salvador and a frequently accused violator of human rights--is changing for the better.