Word: salvadors
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...militant right-wingers gain power at the polls, they may trigger an even more brutal civil war of resistance. Underlying these arguments is a widespread liberal presumption that the rebels are-in the phrase of TV Actor Edward Asner's protest group, Medical Aid for El Salvador-"the most representative group in the country...
...also has a strong right, and Duarte and the centrists may have trouble holding power in the election. But Reagan Administration officials are sure that the centrists would lose outright in negotiations. The prime example of what the White House fears would happen is almost next door to El Salvador...
...government and, crucially, the army were dominated by the Sandinistas. Moderates were forced out of office, or quit in frustration. Says a ranking military analyst: "Only the Sandinistas came out on top. If I had the least hope that a negotiated settlement would produce a tolerable government [in El Salvador], I'd want to help them. But I don't think that the few moderates will survive the transition. The true hard-liners aren't even showing themselves...
There is even some question whether the guerrillas in El Salvador could keep bargains made in good faith. The rebel collective is an uneasy lashing-together of at least five factions with conflicting programs. The most radical, the Popular Liberation Forces, led by Salvador Cayetano Carpio, believe in the traditional Marxist guerra prolongada, a war sustained until ultimate, total victory. Neither negotiations nor elections would necessarily stop this group from fighting...
Perhaps the most ominous sign of rebel intentions is that the crucial issue in any negotiations would be control of El Salvador's army and arsenals. Some rebel factions demand a complete purge of the current military leadership because of its ties to the old ruling oligarchy and the savage right-wing "death squads" that still roam the country. Whatever group takes charge of the country's firepower-as the Sandinistas did from the outset in Nicaragua-will be able to impose its will on the rest of the country...