The players

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FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front): Coalition of five guerrilla groups, est. 1980. ERP (People's Revolutionary Army), led by Cde. Joaquin Villalobos, FPL (Popular Forces of Liberation), led by Shafik Handal, both est. early 1970s, are strongest groups in FDR (Democratic Revolutionary Front): Umbrella organizaton of the opposition, est. 1980, combining dissident Christian Democrats, leftists, popular organizations; aligned with FMLN. Guillermo Ungo and Rubén Zamora best-known figures.

CD (Democratic Convergence): est. 1988. Alliance of Social Democratic Party (PSD) with two parties of FMLN/FDR: Ungo's National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and Zamora's Popular Social Christian Movement (MPSC). Formed to provide voice for "negotiated solutions" in 1989 elections. Endorsed by FMLN/FDR. Nominally legal, but rePDC (Christian Democratic Party): Led by Jose Napoleón Duarte. Provided "democratic" cover for wave of terror and for counter-insurgency plans engineered by the U.S. Duarte elected president in 1984 on promise of "peace and prosperity." Candidate to succeed him, Fidel Chávez Mena, inherits fractured and discredited "democratic center." ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance): Political arm of right and death squads. Est. 1981 by Roberto D'Aubuisson, long-time CIA "asset" labeled "psychopathic killer" by former U.S. Ambassador Robert White. Presumed responsible for murder of Archbishop Romero. Alfredo Cristiani is ARENA's presidential candidate, since D'Aubuisson's image too Armed Forces: now led principally by graduates of TANDONA or "big class" of 1966-67. Has favored ARENA and "total war" strategy as opposed to "low-intensity conflict" strategy favored recently by U.S., which combines intense local repression with superficial reUNTS (National Unity of Salvador Workers): Est. 1986. 350,000-strong, largest of "popular organizations," combining most major unions, many peasant cooperatives and student organizations. Formed by fusion of leftist unions with more moderate ones traditionally aligned with PDC. Has organized major mobilizations in support of peace, workers' MPTTL (Movement for Bread, Land, Work and Liberty): Est. 1988. Provides a more militant voice in popular movement, calling for "popular combat" and insurrection in United States: with bipartisan support, U.S. government has poured over $3 billion into El Salvador in last seven years, trained the military and death squads, and organized counter-insurgency "land reform" and pacification. As source of money, material, advisors, and ultimately troops, it is key factor in maintenance of repression and poverty in El Salvador. AIFLD (American Institute for Free Labor Development): Ostensibly an independent agency, AIFLD has links to CIA. It is labor arm of U.S. foreign policy-disrupting, bribing, SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 1989 the popular, mass movements, and a leftward trend among Duarte's former supporters in the working class and peasantry. But the election is one in which the left has been virtually excluded. The candidates of the liberal-left coalition, Democratic Convergence (CD), often cant campaign out of fear for their Additionally, corruption and fraud ness has cost him what little confidence the Salvadoran ruling class had in him. With Duarte dying, the PDC has split into two factions. The PDC alternative in El Salvador, which has always been positioned as a compromise between the left and the address the major questions facing the country. The middle classes and the oligarchy are turning away from Duarte.

Duarte managed to win and hold the presidency through a U.S.-engineered "survival alliance" between the government and the staging a coup-because they are the institution that has most benefited from it. Maintenance of their vital lifeline of U.S. military assistance depended on allowing Duarte-a U.S. client-to be elected and serve out his term. They've been paid back with better equipment, training, and funding than ever before. But as Duarte's center been successful in bringing nearly all local government to a halt through their "antiMayor" campaign. [See Socialist Action, February, 1988.] Despite a massive increase in U.S. aid, the Armed Forces have been unable to thwart the offensive.

The FMILN has expanded the war into every province, conducting bold attacks even in the heart of San Salvador. They are said to have three open corridors for movement of their troops into the capital. The Armed Forces have been unable to prevent spectacular raids on major military targets. Rather than being at a stalemate, the war appears to be moving to the FMLN's advantage.

also grou strongerm entice he rise of tas National Union of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS), there have been many mass demonstrations, strikes, and land occupations by the peasantry.

The student movement has revived, with mass organizing at the National University and elsewhere. Whole peasant villages of one-time Duarte supporters have joined the FMLN on the battlefield. The FMLN reports that they are recruiting from the Armed Forces, even up to the junior officer level. New repression has led to new tactics for the popular movement. Instead of mass centralized mobilizations, more local demonstrations are being called. The formation of the MPTTL (Movement for Bread, Land, Work and Liberty) represents an aggressive response to a worsening economic and political situation. The MPTTL has joined in calling for a popular insurrection against the government.

If the FMLN's peace proposal is not accepted, the guerrilla forces are likely to accelerate their military offensive and return to their policy of militarily disrupting the coalition. pressed. Ungo is presidential candidate. vile for international consumption.

formist postures.

rights, and against repression.

terms similar to FMLN.

and dividing labor in Latin America, including in El Salvador.

What next?

As we go to press the Duarte government has issued a call for the FMLN to make additional concessions and hold peace talks. Duarte's offer makes no mention of the PMILN's demands to restructure the army and purge the repressive officer corps. Duarte apparently feels the Armed Forces will pull back from staging their threatened coup if he is able to get the FMILN to lay down their weapons without having to make the structural changes demanded by the guerrillas.

Duarte's move is undoubtedly a shrewd one. Now the FMLN will come under pressure to make still further concessions to the government. A postponement of the election, moreover, would undoubtedly help the PDC candidate in the presidential election. Whatever the outcome of the latest round of peace offers, one thing is certain. The FMLN has embraced a strategy that involves making serious political concessions to the Salvadoran capitalist class.

While there is an overwhelming desire to see an end to the war that has claimed 70,000 lives, the FMLN proposal does not respond to the aspirations of the Salvadoran workers and peasants for "bread, land, work, and liberty."

Addressing these demands requires a thorough-going agrarian reform, independence from U.S. imperialism, and the solution of the economic crisis facing El Salvador. It requires the formulation of a program that combines the struggle for political democracy with the struggle against capitalist exploitation.

Above all, it requires advancing a program that calls for the defense and deepening of the Nicaraguan Revolution and the extension of the socialist revolution throughout Central America and beyond.