Salvador Rebels Seek Reassurances as Formal End to War Approaches

Forty-eight hours before the formal end to El Salvador’s civil war, leftist guerrillas, government officials and mediators were locked in intense negotiations Sunday over important political reforms including long-term security for former rebel fighters.

The brinkmanship comes even as U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and other regional leaders prepare to attend Tuesday’s ceremony in San Salvador marking the conclusion of 12 years of war between rebels and U.S.-backed forces.

Leaders of the guerrilla Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front say that the disarming of their final core group of fighters hinges on whether pending reforms are completed. Some of the best fighters are said to be resisting giving up their weapons.

“We know that (the final settlement) can’t be 100% chemically pure,” said guerrilla negotiator Roberto Canas. “But we want to be assured that there isn’t a possibility of going backward.”

Many terms of a U.N.-brokered peace treaty signed in January have been fulfilled. Guerrillas began destroying their weapons this month, while the government dismantled a notorious army battalion. But other key points remain unresolved or incomplete.

By formally ending the war, Tuesday’s ceremony is supposed to recognize that a cease-fire in force since Feb. 1 has held and that the so-called “armed peace” is giving way to national reconciliation. Both sides long ago conceded that not every element of the peace accords would be completed by the Dec. 15 deadline, but each wanted proof that reforms were well under way.

The guerrillas are seeking guarantees that they will receive the land they’ve been promised under the accords; that neither the army nor a newly formed police force will be allowed to harass former rebels or their families who settle in what were once war zones, and that electoral reforms are written into law.

At the request of guerrilla leadership, U.S. Charge d’Affaires Peter Romero, the ranking American diplomat here, held a four-hour meeting Friday with 35 rebel field commanders from this faction to hear their grievances and offer reassurances.

“I found they were not very well-informed about what was happening,” Romero said. He said they seemed “surprised” when he reassured them that U.S. aid to El Salvador is tied to compliance by both sides with the peace accords.