Word: palmas
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Duarte had anticipated the popular support that his peace mission would win, so, to a certain extent, had the rebels. In the past, the guerrillas have made offers of their own to negotiate; when they agreed to the La Palma meeting, said Zamora, it was in recognition of "domestic pressure. We know that if we separate from the people, it means we lose the war." Even so, one important guerrilla commander, Joaquín Villalobos, head of a faction known as the People's Revolutionary Army, was unable to attend. The reason: difficulties in traveling from his remote stronghold...
...Palma talks, the F.M.L.N. representatives were still demanding satisfaction on the lengthy agenda that they had carried into the session. Among the items: the cutoff of U.S. military aid and training assistance for Duarte's government, the freeing of all "political" prisoners and an end to alleged government bombing of civilian targets. But some people present at the discussions were encouraged by the civility of tone. Said a government participant: "There were no hugs and kisses, but there was much more cordiality than expected. We had feared [the guerrillas] would be cold and formal, even hostile, but they were...
Duarte could claim one other striking achievement at La Palma: his initiative had at least in part transformed the civil war, in the President's words, into "a Salvadoran problem, which must be solved among Salvadorans in El Salvador." U.S. officials were not present at the La Palma talks, and according to a State Department analyst, Washington's suggestions to Duarte were limited to his personal security. Even then, the U.S. offer of a bulletproof vest for the President was turned down...
...addition, the U.S. strongly supported the democratic election process by which Duarte took office. The Administration also aided the Salvadoran armed forces in developing an increasingly aggressive stance toward the guerrillas on the battlefield. That, in the U.S. view, went a long way toward creating incentives for the La Palma meeting. Said a U.S. diplomat: "The guerrillas tend to shy away from negotiations as their power increases. They tend toward negotiations as their power weakens." According to that assessment, Duarte must still wage war in order to wage peace. Indeed, three days after the La Palma meeting, the Salvadoran army...
Reported by Ricardo Chavira and Harry Kelly/La Palma...