Moving towards a
EL SALVADOR the FMLN might become instructors at the military college."
As a condition for the ceasefire, the 1980 agrarian reform must be guaranteed and all the social changes, including changes in property, carried out in the zones under FMLN control must be legalized. After the ceasefire the FMLN will
ON JUNE 17, 1991, the Salvadoran Farabundo Marti Liberation
Front (FMLN) attacked La Esperanza prison, near to the capital, San Salvador. The guerillas surrounded the building for several hours and broke through the wall; 130 people, both common law and political prisoners, escaped. The attack took place at the very moment when the Salvadoran government and the FMLN were starting a new round of talks in the
Mexican city of Queretaro, held under the auspices of the
United Nations.
At the start of June, several members of the FMLN's general command toured Europe. In the course of this tour the Belgian organization, Socialisme sans frontières met Joaquin
Villalobos, the leader of the Revolutionary People's Army, and a member of the FMLN leadership.?
ERIC TOUSSAINT
IT WOULD be a mistake to believe that the recent round of negotiations was a failure. The great tension around the negotiating table arises from the fact that these are real negotiations. The army is very nervous, because the issue of a division of territory between the two armies is being discussed in connection with a ceasefire" explained
Villalobos.
Insofar as the FMLN controls significant areas? and some are close to the capital, the army is attacking with the aim of regaining positions before a ceasefire.
Joaquin Villalobos has explained that the
FMLN's aim is the complete demilitarization of the country, which cannot be gained in the short term. What is on the cards now is an armed peace, since the current negotiations must succeed. If they fail, the only victors will be the far right, in Villalobos' opinion.
Villalobos gave his view on strategic issues: he believes that the only comparable military experience to that of El Salvador was the Mexican revolution. The victorious Cuban and Nicaraguan experiences lasted only a short time (that is, there was only a short period between the launching of the armed struggle and the taking of power). Several variants of revolutionary war have been tried out by the
FMLN in response to changes in tactics on the part of the enemy: an insurrectional movement of armed masses; guerilla warconfrontations between fare;
outright large forces on both sides, with retreats and offensives and so on.
While in the recent period the FMLN high command has tended to become a political rather than a military leadership, it remains the case that the Front has a real permanent army under its control, with an officer corps and battle hardened troops. Such a force cannot be disarmed on the basis of political promises; demili- натону вана ні, tarization must take place on both sides simultaneously. El Salvador will thus first go through a period of armed peace, which may last several years, before leading on to another stage (demilitarization or some other formula). The elections in 1994 will be a key moment.
UN observers dispatched
The imminent dispatch of a delegation of 150 permanent UN observers (UNOSAL) in charge of checking on the application of the agreements signed in September 1990 at San José in Costa Rica relating to respect for human rights, is considered positive by the FMLN, since its presence will contribute to lessening the pressure of the army on the civilian population. Furthermore, some initial constitutional reforms have been won, concerning notably the organization of elections to the Supreme Court of Justice. Although falling far short of what is needed, they are nonetheless a
The FMLN believes that the generals should be sent into retirement, the Minister of National Defence replaced by a civilian, the military personnel responsible for crimes prosecuted and sentenced and changes implemented in military education. "Young military cadres from continue to be in military control of these zones, but it is ready to allow judges and representatives of the central administration in, on condition that the social changes are legalized. As another condition of the ceasefire, the FMLN demands that international aid be allowed for economic and social projects in the regions it controls, without having to go via the government.
An FMLN police force
Furthermore, the FMLN will recognize a local police, on condition that it is entirely composed of FMLN members. Under the protection of the UN observers, the members of the independent commission on human rights will be able to travel throughout the country to supervise respect for liberties. On the political level, the FMLN, without laying down its arms. will integrate itself into civilian political life while remaining: "a party of the poor which refuses to be a poor party." The FMLN wants guarantees of financing, and also demands that the popular organizations be given control over one of the three television channels, as well as some radio stations and newspapers.
Socialisme sans frontières asked Joaquin Villalobos about some sensational comments on the subject of Marxism attributed to him that appeared in several North American journals (see Internation al Viewpoint no. 206, May 13, 1991). He replied that for him Marxism was a meth od of analysis and a science and it was necessary to prevent it being turned into a religious dogma. In his view, revolutionaries must use the Marxist method to work out an adequate revolutionary strategy, but in some countries where Marxism had been turned into a religion, the masses, in the course of freeing themselves from authoritarian forms of rule, have been overturning statues of Marx and Lenin.
To avoid this kind of thing, the authoritarian and Stalinist version of Marxism must be rejected. Every revolutionary process is profoundly pluralist in its essence, and any vanguard force that wants to take the lead in such a process must also be pluralist, as was the case with the FMLN. According to Villalobos, it is necessary reject the doctrine of the single party. 1. Socialisme sans frontières is the international solidarity organization of the Belgian Socialist Workers Party (POS/SAP, Belgian section of the Fourth International). 2. See International Viewpoint, no. 206, May 13, 1991. 3. This is true notably of the Chalatenango, San 21 Vicente and Morazan regions. The FMLN is also strong in the Usulatan and Guazapa regions July 22, 1991 • #211 International Viewpoint
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