‘They Destroy Them, We Repair Them’ : Engineers Wage Key Battle of Electric Power Lines in Salvador Guerrilla War

In the battle-worn province of San Vicente, one victim of the five-year civil war is a tall electric tower that has been blown up and rebuilt at least 44 times.

The tower in San Esteban Catarina supports high-tension lines to the eastern half of the country and is a favorite target of guerrilla sabotage--and of repairmen whose Sisyphean task is to keep electric power flowing in the midst of civil war.

“They destroy them, we repair them; they destroy them, we repair them,” said an electric company engineer.

As guerrillas have stepped up their campaign of economic sabotage, particularly targeting the country’s electrical grid, the U.S.-funded emergency repair team is becoming an increasingly important defensive weapon.

Almost nightly now, rebels dynamite the high-tension towers, distribution lines and transformers. And almost every day, flak-jacketed technicians from the Rio Lempa Hydroelectric Executive Commission undo the damage with materials supplied by the Agency for International Development.

Sometimes Under Fire

The civilian engineers move into the rugged countryside on an AID-contracted helicopter--sometimes under guerrilla fire--for their dangerous repair work.

One technician has been killed and eight others wounded by land mines while making repairs, said an engineer, who, like all commission officials, asked not to be identified.

Since 1981, AID has spent about $20 million a year to restore guerrilla-damaged public services, about half of that going to the electric company. AID and Salvadoran officials estimate that the guerrillas have inflicted $250 million in direct damage to the country’s transportation, communications, water and electric systems. The general loss to the economy is put at $1.2 billion.

As a result of gains by the expanded, U.S.-backed Salvadoran army, guerrillas have shifted their tactics this year away from large-scale military attacks to ambushes and attacks on local government installations and utilities. Rebel leaders say they intend to fight a prolonged war on the economic battlefield as well as the military front.

It is difficult, if not impossible, for the army to prevent such economic sabotage. While soldiers guard bridges and major hydroelectric plants, they cannot possibly watch the thousands of miles of electrical lines.

Attacks Increase

Attacks on the power system have steadily increased, a hydroelectric commission spokesman said. The guerrillas have launched twice as many attacks in the first three months of this year as in the same period of 1984. About a third of the country’s electric pylons, worth about $20,000 each, have been blown up.

However, the speed of technicians and engineers in repairing the damage has also increased, to about half the time it used to take, thanks to experience and increased U.S. supplies.

“If we didn’t have helicopters, we wouldn’t have electricity in the country today,” a commission spokesman said.

While they are quick to credit the United States for the donated supplies, the engineers say the United States could teach them nothing.

“There has been no training,” a Salvadoran engineer insisted. “This problem doesn’t exist in the United States. They don’t blow up pylons in the United States. If they ever do, they’ll be coming here for training.”

The pilots and engineers emphasize that their work is strictly civilian in nature. They ride in bright green-and-white helicopters and keep the doors closed, rather than open in the manner of armed military or reconnaissance choppers.

Repairmen Unarmed

“We don’t even carry nail clippers to defend ourselves,” said a pilot.

Still, the guerrillas see the repair crews’ work as part of the war, and occasionally lie in wait.

“I’ve been shot at about 12 times in 2 1/2 years. The last time, the bullet came right through here and shattered the glass,” said a pilot, pointing to a small window three inches above his head.

The 56-year-old pilot said he does the dangerous job simply to pay for his children’s college education but that he hopes to stop next year when they graduate.

Repairs Drain Funds

“All the money goes into repairs. It is going to be a major drain on the economy in the future to restore and rebuild the system,” an AID official said.

The commission’s operation center in San Salvador can detect a damaged line in the electrical system but cannot pinpoint the location. That is left to a crew that flies out to inspect lines and search for the downed pylons.

Once the problem is located, the engineers call for the army to move in and secure the area--an action that may take hours, particularly in eastern El Salvador, where guerrillas are strongest.

After the army has taken up position, a crew of commission technicians sweeps for land mines and unexploded bombs.

Finally, the crewmen move in by truck and then by foot--the lines usually pass through farm fields and remote country--to rebuild the downed towers or to remove a transformer. The materials are brought in by helicopter.

Rather than invest in expensive new towers that are likely to become targets again, the electric company replaces them with cheap wooden poles.

Littered With Poles

The extent of the guerrillas’ work could be seen recently on a flight to San Miguel. The hilly countryside between rivers and volcanoes was littered with the broken 50-foot metal towers, and the lines that carry energy to the eastern half of the country were held up, in large part, by wooden poles.

The country’s energy is produced in hydroelectric and geothermal plants in central and western El Salvador. Under the AID program, an $8-million emergency generator was built in San Miguel last year to provide power to eastern El Salvador during major blackouts.

“From late 1980 to 1982, it looked as if the guerrillas might win,” said an AID official. “They were cutting roads and bridges and power at will. This program was developed in response to the fear that was great that this country would be cut in half.”