U.N. Works to Save Peace in Salvador

With a purge of El Salvador’s armed forces looming, U.N. mediators are working to hold together a fragile peace agreement that ended this country’s civil war but remains threatened by deep mistrust between the conservative government and leftist guerrillas.

As the peace process enters a crucial, possibly decisive phase and with scant time left for its completion, guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front suspended their demobilization last week and accused the armed forces of plotting a coup.

The military countered that such a plot was a guerrilla “fantasy,” and President Alfredo Cristiani accused the rebels of seeking excuses to avoid having to disarm.

Under U.N.-mediated accords signed last January, the rebels agreed to lay down their weapons in exchange for major political and military reforms from the government. Deadline for completion of the process, which will formally end 12 years of warfare, is Dec. 15.

A cease-fire continues to hold, and most observers say the problems that have arisen can be resolved. But both sides have failed to meet many of their commitments fully or on time, according to U.N. peacekeepers.

The latest round of charges traded by government officials and rebel leaders came as the peace process faces deadlines this week on two of its most sensitive elements: destruction of rebel weaponry and a purge to rid the military of its worst human rights abusers.

Under the accords, Cristiani is required to report to U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali today on how he plans to conduct the purge, the prospect of which has sent tremors through the armed forces because of its anticipated broad scope.

The list of officers who a civilian commission recommended be dismissed or transferred is said to include about 100 men, including Cristiani’s defense minister and deputy defense minister.

This week is also supposed to bring the destruction of an initial stockpile of guerrilla weapons. U.N. officials said this will go forward despite suspension of rebel demobilization. An estimated 3,000 guerrillas are still armed and gathered in camps around the country.

U.N. mediators, government officials and rebel leaders held meetings late last week to “calm the waters,” in the words of one U.N. official, and to find ways to overcome last-minute obstacles.

“As the time grows shorter, the complications grow more pressing . . . more urgent,” Iqbal Riza, head of the 1,146-member U.N. operation here, said in an interview.

But Riza and other diplomats insist that the peace process is “irreversible” and that El Salvador will not return to a war that killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians.

Apparently confident that the Dec. 15 deadline will be met, the government has already begun to invite presidents and other dignitaries from throughout the hemisphere to the formal ceremony ending the war.

Guerrilla leaders said their decision to suspend demobilization was largely aimed at pressing the government to carry out its part of the peace agreement, and they said it is likely that they will resume the process soon. A key issue is land distribution, a complex and emotional problem in this tiny, densely populated country.

The rebels’ main demand in return for resumption of demobilization is a legal guarantee that squatters and some former fighters who occupied farmland in combat zones during the war will not be evicted. Late last week, the Legislative Assembly passed a law intended to protect the squatters. Guerrilla leaders are studying the law to determine whether it offers satisfactory protection.

Under the peace accords, the rebels, known by their Spanish initials FMLN, are to regroup in a legalized political party once they have disposed of their weapons.

Two days after they halted demobilization, rebel leaders Thursday night declared an “alert” and announced that they believed a group of military officers was planning a coup “in the next 48 to 72 hours.”

In a statement released to news organizations, the FMLN called on “honest and democratic” sectors of the armed forces to reject “this dangerous game that threatens the peace process and would put the armed forces, once again, at the service of minority economic interests.”

Cristiani dismissed the “alert,” saying that the rebels were trying to fan rumors, and the defense minister, Gen. Rene Emilio Ponce, joined in the denials. “This is part of the fantasy the FMLN has to try to confuse the people,” Ponce said.

Although few diplomats and politicians consider a coup likely, the guerrilla leadership argued that the timing was right because of the impending purge. Both Ponce and his deputy, Gen. Juan Orlando Zepeda, are widely thought to be among the men slated for purging.

The purge list is secret, but the first dismissals could come as early as this week.

Despite complications in making peace work in El Salvador, the country has undergone dramatic change. In addition to the cease-fire, former guerrillas are able to move about San Salvador with relative ease, openly operate radio stations, give speeches and engage in other political activity.

Twenty-two of 44 mayors who were forced out of their combat-zone homes and into exile during the war have returned. The army has begun reducing its size and has dismantled two of five elite anti-insurgency battalions.