Salvadoran Civil War - Interim Government and Continued Violence: 1982-1984

Interim Government and Continued Violence: 1982-1984

In 1982, the FMLN began calling for a peace settlement that would establish a "government of broad participation." The Reagan administration said they wanted to create a Communist dictatorship. Elections were interrupted with right-wing paramilitary attacks and FMLN-suggested boycotts. El Salvador's National Federation of Lawyers, which represented all of the country's bar associations, refused to participate in drafting the 1982 electoral law. The lawyers said that the elections couldn't possibly be free and fair during a state of siege that suspended all basic rights and freedoms. The News-Gazette, the country's English-language conservative newspaper supported the national bar association's stand.

Pursuant with measures put in place by the JRG on October 18, 1979, elections for an interim government were held on April 29, 1982. The Legislative Assembly voted on three candidates nominated by the armed forces, Álvaro Alfredo Magaña Borja, leader of the moderate Democratic Action and thus effectively politically independent, was elected by 36 votes to 17, ahead of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and Party of National Conciliation candidates. Roberto D'Aubuisson accused Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez Avendaño of imposing on the Assembly "his personal decision to put Álvaro Alfredo Magaña Borja in the presidency" in spite of a "categorical no" from the ARENA deputies. Magana was sworn into office on 2 May. Decree No. 6 of the National Assembly suspended phase III of the implementation of the agrarian reform, and was itself later amended. The Apaneca Pact was signed on 3 August 1982, establishing a Government of National Unity, whose objectives were peace, democratization, human rights, economic recovery, security and a strengthened international position. An attempt was made to form a transitional Government which would establish a democratic system. Lack of agreement among the forces that made up the Government and the pressures of the armed conflict prevented any substantive changes from being made during Magaña's Presidency.

The activities of the insurgency continued during the period of interim government, as did government repression. The FMLN attacked the Ilopango Air Force Base, destroying six of the Air Forces 14 Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters, five of its 18 Dassault Ouragan aircraft and three C-47s. The guerrillas stepped up their activities against economic targets. Between February and April, a total of 439 acts of sabotage were reported. The number of acts of sabotage involving explosives or arson rose to 782 between January and September. The United States Embassy estimated the damage to the economic infrastructure at US$98 million. FMLN also carried out large-scale operations in the capital city and temporarily occupied urban centres in the countrys interior. According to some reports, the number of rebels ranged between 4,000 and 5,000; other sources put the number at between 6,000 and 9,000.

Systemic and widespread human rights violations by the Salvadoran military and security forces continued at high levels during the period of interim government. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported that on May 24, 1982, a clandestine cemetery containing the corpses of 150 disappeared persons was discovered near Puerta del Diablo, Panchimalco, approximately twelve kilometers from San Salvador. On June 10, 1982, almost 4,000 Salvadoran troops carried out a "cleanup" operation in the rebel-controlled Chalatenango province. Over 600 civilians were reportedly massacred during the Army sweep. The Salvadoran field commander acknowledged that an unknown number of civilian rebel sympathizers or "masas" were killed, while declaring the operation a success. 19 days later, the Army massacred 27 unarmed civilians during house raids in a San Salvador neighborhood. The woman were raped and murdered. Everyone was dragged from their homes into the street and then executed. "The operation was a success," said the Salvadoran Defense Ministry communique. "This action was a result of training and professionalization of our officers and soldiers."

During 1982 and 1983, government forces killed approximately 8,000 civilians a year. Although the figure is substantially less than the figures reported by human rights groups in 1980 and 1981, targeted executions as well as indiscriminate killings nonetheless remained an integral policy of the army and internal security forces, part of what Professor William Stanley of the University of New Mexico has described as a “strategy of mass murder” designed to terrorize the civilian population as well as opponents of the government. General Adolfo Blandón, the Salvadoran armed forces chief of staff during much of the 1980s, has stated, "Before 1983, we never took prisoners of war."

By January 1984, Americas Watch observed that the human rights situation was "as bad as ever" and that "the principal reason that those abuses continue at such a high rate at a point when — one would guess — the armed forces should have run out of politically suspect persons to murder is that the murders instill terror. Terror is the means whereby the armed forces maintain their authority."

On February 7, 1984, nine labor leaders, including all seven top officials of one major federation, were arrested by the Salvadoran National Police and sent to a military court. The arrests were part of Duarte's moves to crackdown on labor unions after more than 80 trade unionists were detained in a raid by the National Police. The police confiscated the union's files and took videotape mugshots of each union member. During a 15 day interrogation, the nine labor leaders were beaten during late night questioning and were told to confess to being guerrillas. They were then forced to sign a written confession while blindfolded. They were never charged with being guerrillas but the official police statement said they were accused of planning to "present demands to management for higher wages and benefits and promoting strikes, which destabilize the economy." A U.S. official said the embassy had "followed the arrests closely and was satisfied that the correct procedures were followed."

In February, U.S. military advisers instructed the Salvadoran Air Force to intensify bombing raids in conflictive and rebel-held zones. The Air Force was aided by new U.S. reconnaissance flights that supply it with improved intelligence. In April, the Roman Catholic Church's human rights office, the Tute-la Legal, said the number of civilians killed during military missions rose from 195 in February to more than 300 in March. Maria Julia Hernandez, the director of the office, noted a sudden increase in bombing accuracy since the new U.S. reconnaissance flights began in February. She suggested the Air Force was using intelligence derived from U.S. reconnaissance to attack civilians suspected of being rebel sympathizers.

Also in April, residents and displaced people from the Cuscatlan and Cabanas provinces said the Salvadoran Air Force had increased indiscriminate bombing raids and that the attacks had become much more accurate in recent weeks. "They used to bomb and it wouldn't land near to the houses, but now they have something to detect exactly where we are," a displaced person from Guazapa said. "No one is safe in their homes, no one is safe anywhere." "Towns such as El Zapote, El Corozal, Tres Cevas, Palo Grande, and Mirandilla no longer exist," another woman contended. Chris Hedges, a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor who was at one village in the area, said it resembled a ghost town and that every home appeared to have been bombed and strafed by machine-gun fire. Those who escaped said that leaving the free fire zones was just as dangerous. "When we fled," said one woman whose children and husband were killed in a bombing attack, "the Army was not on the road, so we survived. If they see you coming down from the volcano, they will kill you." The Air Force reportedly used incendiary bombs such as Napalm or White phosphorus to burn villages to the ground and charr large tracts of land before Army sweeps.

In the preceding months, the Salvadoran military had used the Red Cross's humanitarian activities to locate and attack displaced people who gathered at clinics to receive medical assistance and food. The United States Embassy and the Salvadoran government argued that most of the civilians killed were rebel sympathizers (masas). Although, the practice was later terminated by U.S. advisers after protests by Americas Watch.

In 1984, the U.S. Embassy had characterized the civilians residing in FMLN zones as "masas," a term that originated with the guerrillas. According to the Embassy, these masas were "something other than innocent civilian bystanders" because it said they provided "logistical support" for the guerrillas and "mingled" with them. As best the Americas Watch could determine, the "logistical support" consisted principally in maintaining their traditional subsistence farming, thereby providing themselves and the guerrillas with a source of food. "Mingling" consisted principally in trying to remain in or near their original communities and not joining the vast refugee and displaced person populations. Accordingly, Americas Watch criticized the Embassy's stand. We said that calling these civilians "something other than innocent civilian bystanders" implied they were legitimate targets for attack. Moreover, Salvadoran and U.S. officials continue to attempt to justify attacks on civilians.

— Americas Watch, 1985