Salvador Rebels Plan Talks With U.S. Lawmakers

Amid a worsening crisis for the U.S.-backed government of El Salvador, the guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front are arranging to meet with a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. Congress to discuss possibilities for a negotiated end to that country’s eight-year civil war, a guerrilla spokesman said Saturday.

Salvador Samayoa, a member of the rebels’ diplomatic commission, said that El Salvador’s internal political problems have been intensified by President Jose Napoleon Duarte’s serious illness, by the recent losses suffered by Duarte’s Christian Democratic Party in elections for the National Assembly, and by the increasing likelihood that extremists of the far right will win the nation’s presidency next year.

“Time is running out for all of us,” Samayoa warned in an interview here upon his return from six months in guerrilla territory in El Salvador. “The government is sinking more quickly.”

‘Total Polarization’

He predicted a “total polarization” of Salvadoran society by next year.

In an apparent policy shift, Samayoa also said the guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti front would not rule out giving their support to the candidacies of recently returned leftist political leaders if they choose to take part in presidential elections scheduled for next March.

Guillermo Ungo and Ruben Zamora, leaders of the Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of leftist political groups allied with the guerrillas, returned to El Salvador from exile earlier this year to form legal political parties in a new alliance called the Convergence. They have not broken with the guerrillas or dissolved their exile organization.

Ungo and Zamora have not said whether they will be candidates in the presidential election, but there is every indication they will participate.

Backing Considered

Samayoa said the rebels will “respect” whatever decision the politicians make and will consider backing them, if the guerrillas determine that there can be free and fair elections in El Salvador.

“We do not have a closed position. We will evaluate the situation,” Samayoa said. “The bottom line is that the elections must not contribute to a counterinsurgency plan, to prolonging the war or legitimizing a government that is not looking for peace.”

He said he is not optimistic about the possibility for fair elections.

Throughout the civil war, Farabundo Marti rebels have rejected elections without an agreement for their participation in a government of transition and the unification of the guerrillas and the government army into a single military organization. After the political exiles made their first trip back to El Salvador last year, guerrilla commander Ferman Cienfuegos said that the Farabundo Marti front would not support their taking part in elections.

The political alliance led by Ungo and Zamora did not enter candidates in the National Assembly and municipal elections last March. In that balloting, Duarte’s Christian Democrats lost their majority in the assembly to the ultra-right Nationalist Republican Alliance, popularly called the Arena party. Arena also won the post of mayor in the capital of San Salvador, a position that had been occupied by a Christian Democrat ever since Duarte won the office in 1964.

In addition, the Christian Democrats have split over the nomination of a presidential candidate for next year.

Duarte Illness

Earlier this month, Duarte was found to be suffering from cancer of the stomach and liver, for which his physician said there was no cure. He is hospitalized in Washington, where surgeons last week removed the cancer from his stomach but were unable to operate on his diseased liver, doctors said.

Before leaving for treatment in Washington, Duarte turned his official duties over to Vice President Rodolfo Castillo Claramount and set up a decision-making council that includes the defense minister and former head of the security forces.

In the interview here, Samayoa said that “Duarte’s departure aggravates the power vacuum that already existed.”

The United States has provided the Duarte government an average of $1.5 million a day in economic and military aid.

Lawmakers Not Named

The guerrilla spokesman declined to name the American lawmakers with whom he said the rebels are arranging to meet. He said there have been preliminary meetings with congressional staff members in the last few weeks and that he hopes meetings can take place before Congress’ summer recess.

Samayoa said the guerrillas want to discuss political pluralism and their proposal to integrate the guerrillas into the regular armed forces of El Salvador--a point the Duarte government has always refused to discuss.

“Our ultimate objective is clear, that they (the United States) should stay out of El Salvador,” Samayoa said. “They must understand that they are going to have a very serious situation in six, eight, 10 months. If we haven’t explored other political, negotiated options, they are going to have to intervene.”

Samayoa said that leftist politicians also have initiated meetings with leaders of the Arena party inside El Salvador.

U.S. and Salvadoran military officials estimate rebel strength at 5,000 to 6,000 guerrillas. The rebels have said repeatedly that they are moving combatants into San Salvador, where they will try to provoke a “popular insurrection.” They have not yet demonstrated the military and political strength to do so.