Word: salvadoran
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...guerrillas' bold entry into the region, together with a sudden surge in F.M.L.N. urban violence, is a graphic demonstration of what even the Bush Administration privately acknowledges is the F.M.L.N.'s improved military prowess. Despite the infusion of $3.4 billion in American aid over the past eight years, the Salvadoran government is not even close to winning the civil war. Troops killed most of the guerrilla leaders in the west eight years ago, forcing the F.M.L.N. out of the area. The rebels' return underscores their new strength and the army's inability to vanquish them permanently...
...F.M.L.N.'s military aggressiveness contrasts sharply with the peaceful image the rebels have projected in recent weeks. F.M.L.N. leaders surprised American and Salvadoran officials in January with a dramatic offer to lay down their weapons and participate in national elections. In exchange, the rebels wanted the March presidential vote postponed for six months. That offer set off a flurry of counterproposals and talks between the F.M.L.N. and political- party representatives. State Department officials, who quietly met with a rebel spokesman to discuss the initiative, were so intrigued that they encouraged the Salvadoran government to negotiate with the guerrillas...
...guerrillas sound determined to fight unless a newly elected government proves unexpectedly willing to reopen negotiations. Warns Cirilo: "We have a genuine desire for peace. But that should not be mistaken for weakness." Schafik Jorge Handal, head of the Salvadoran Communist Party and one of the F.M.L.N.'s top five comandantes, agrees. "If the military says no to our plan, then that indicates their intention of defeating us militarily," he says. "That would oblige us to respond, and the product would be a deepening of the war." Roberto, a veteran E.R.P. combatant is more direct: "If the elections are held...
...regular combatants. "We have established political control over the area," says "Raul," the rebel commander, "and now we are moving toward military control as well." He and other guerrilla leaders have lately obtained AK-47 assault rifles. They say the guns were bought from the Nicaraguan contras; U.S. and Salvadoran authorities insist that the Sandinistas supplied them. "The fact that we have these weapons is an indication of our development," says Raul...
...United States is facing a similar crisis in El Salvador. Last year American aid to El Salvador doubled that nation's budget. And extraordinarily generous support for the Salvadoran military, besides encouraging corruption and removing any high-level army incentive to end the war, sends a message to all Salvadorans--left, center and right--that El Salvador is not in charge of its own policies...