Unprecedented as they were, the talks between El Salvador's rebels and its political parties, including the ultra-right ARENA, ended near Mexico City last week without a breakthrough. Yet in offering to lay down their arms and join "the political life of the country" in exchange for military reforms and a six-month delay in the presidential elections scheduled for March 19, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) clearly scored a coup. By advancing a negotiable proposal, the rebels managed to put the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government -- and especially the army -- on the defensive.
The military and ARENA have both rejected...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
