For the past year, the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front has been itching for a rematch with El Salvador's U.S.-trained armed forces. Last year thousands of FMLN fighters nearly overran the capital, San Salvador, before the army's superior firepower inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels. Last week the FMLN launched a minioffensive in 10 of the country's 14 departments but scored no major victories.
Officials estimated that 200 civilians and fighters were killed, and more than 300 were wounded throughout the country. The FMLN leadership views such muscle flexing as a bargaining chip in U.N.-mediated negotiations with the government to...
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