After a flurry of proposals and counterproposals, El Salvador was not an inch closer to peace. President Jose Napoleon Duarte, whose Christian Democrats are trailing in the polls, took the diplomatic initiative last week by calling for talks with the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (F.M.L.N.) and offering to postpone for six weeks the presidential elections scheduled for March 19. The army also unilaterally declared a cease-fire until June 1.
The F.M.L.N., which wants the elections delayed until Sept. 15, called Duarte's offer for talks "positive" but criticized the cease-fire as unworkable. To underscore their point, rebel forces on Thursday attacked...