These liberated zones today cover a good third of the territory of El Salvador. generally these areas are also the most remote, the most backward, and the least "useful" economically in this country, which is no larger than five French departments (or a couple of American, British, or Irish counties).
The existence of the zones and their constant extension reflects the advances of the revolutionists. They are the expression not only of the overwhelming popular support for the actions of the revolutionists but also of the massive incorporation of the pop-
This fact makes it possible to understand why the FMLN's military capacities have grown so considerably in these last months. It is what has made possible more and more audacious and more and more effective actions in areas that not long ago seemed to be securely held by the army.
Based on these liberated zones, the nuclei of guerrilla fighters have grown into the organized detachments of a "Revolutionary People's Army" that today comprises between five and six thousand well-trained fighters.
Rooted in the mobilization and organization of the people in the liberated zones, a militia of twenty thousand members is growing up. It is already able to organize the self-defense of sections of the masses, in coordination with detachments of the People's Army. And all this work is being directed with the perspective of preparing a general uprising.
In the cities, and notably in the capital despite the brutal repression that prevails there, this militia is being organized primarily among the workers, in the workplaces, and, whenever this is possible, within the framework of the trade-union structures that have managed to survive underground.
El Salvador is marked by very special economic, social, political, and geographical conditions. And the FMLN have demonstrated a real capacity to choose tactics that correspond to these conditions. But over and above that, some basic aspects of the revolutionary struggle there represent a considerable advance over many previous experiences in Latin America.
One such advance is the political and military interlocking between the rural areas where the revolutionists' control is well es-
tablished and the underground organization of the proletariat and the urban masses--based on their traditional organizations--for mass self-defense and with the basic perspective of preparing for an insur-
"When we called for a general strike last year, a lot of workers didn't follow us. But almost all of them consider that our struggle is also theirs. So, this gave rise to a lot of discussions. Our conclusion was that the attitude of the workers who didn't follow the call was the expression of a high level of politicalization. A good part of the working class, which has to face the military's repression every day, estimated correctly that we did not have the capacity to defend the strike. " That was the way an FMLN cadre explained it to me. He added:
"Given the degree of repression that there is in the capital, the precondition for any major mass action is not just a real capacity for self-defense and protecting mobilizations. Besides that, the workers have to be convinced on the basis of their own experience that this capacity exists. The decisive thing in eliminating hesitations has been the growth of the territories under our control. This has enabled everyone to judge how the military relationship of forces has been shifting in our favor. It has also made it possible to accelerate the organization of militias in the cities. "
The effectively liberated zones were described variously by the FMLN leaders I talked to as "rearguard bastions" and "strategic reserves. " They are also areas in which certain basic points in the FMLN program are already being put into practice.
Agrarian reform, literacy programs, the organization of a new system of public health, setting up a network for collectivized distribution of goods--all this work is being carried on in conjunction with the tasks of self-defense and military training
"We are trying to improve the standard of living of all the poor peasants who live in this region as rapidly as possible but also to raise their cultural level and the level of their consciousness so that they can be more and more fully integrated into the struggle. " That was what a member of the Consejo Farabundista in charge of economic matters
These consejos, or councils, are designed to be "administrative structures and structures for organizing the activity and the life of the population." They have been established progressively in the areas where the FMLN is firmly in control. pose is to normalize civilian life in these areas and to supervise and administer resource utilization and collective production, " according to a formula used by an FMLN comandante.
The councils are generally subdivided into four commissions responsible respectively for administration, economic life, religious questions, and self-defense. The heads of the first three commissions are elected by the population in the area administered by the council.
The administrative commission, for example, assumes some of the functions that have traditionally belonged to the mayors-the registering of births and deaths, the conducting of marriage ceremonies.
The tasks of the economic commission and the person who heads it are much more extensive. This commission has to organize agricultural production, and so it is also responsible for implementing the first agrarian reform measures and the first steps toward the collectivization of agricultural
Another key responsibility of the economic commissions is to assure a fair distribution of essential foods and to maintain price controls.
A few weeks ago, for example, was a meeting of the heads of the economic commissions of the various councils in the Central Front area (Chalatenango) to work out a system for controlling the prices of products that do not originate in the liber-
The heads of the religious commissions are responsible for safeguarding and promoting religious life. This includes, for example, organizing discussion groups whose function is to "make faith a means for conscious integration into the revolutionary process, "as it was explained to me by a priest who seemed quite comfortable in his role as a member of a consejo fara-
When there are no priests in the area, lay people are elected to head the religious commissions. The existence of these commissions is in fact the result of the crucial role that local religious communities have played in raising the consciousness of, and radicalizing, many people in the rural areas.
The heads of the self-defense commissions are also integrated into the command structures of the militia. In the sectors firmly controlled by the revolutionists, the members of the militia have many different functions. But their main task is educating and organizing the entire population to prepare them to meet incursions or invasions by the junta's forces.
This work goes from setting up a very discreet and effective system of lookouts, based on a perfect knowledge of the terrain, to the preparation of redoubts. With respect to the latter, the Salvadoran revolutionists have learned a lot from the Vietnamese
Complex and extensive underground hiding places and tunnels have been dug and continue to be dug not far from inhabited places. The population can find refuge quickly from bombings; it can hide in these underground refuges and if necessary remain there for a long time.
• THE GUERRILLA GUIDE
She was wearing jeans, sneakers, a flowered blouse, and an olive-green beret and carrying an automatic rifle and walkie-
She was twenty-four years old but
Maria Isabel was waiting near a country road with a small detachment of fighters, armed with the most motley collection of weapons. They were assigned to escort us from the fluid, continually shifting border of this liberated zone to the first encampment we were to visit. It was a long way, and along the path we had long conversa-
For Maria Isabel, France was most of all the country of Francois Mitterand. "He's the president of an imperialist coun try but he has recognized us.
She was proud of her political and military responsibilities. Not for herself, she pointed out, but "for what this means for Salvadoran women. "
Her brother was murdered. Her father was wounded and remains crippled. Two of her cousins are orphans. She was training to be a teacher, but her studies were
"There's nothing special about that. In my village and the surrounding area, ewery family has been touched by the
Why did she get involved in the revolution? It was natural enough. "Things cannot continue this way, so you have to fight, " she said simply.
Then, very quickly she returned to the subject she was most interested in--Salvadoran women, their place in the revolution and in the future society.
"The situation of women remains very difficult. But real progress is beginning to be made among the fighters. There is a conscious will that is spreading more and more among the men themselves to combat male chauvinism, to stop thinking of us as
| helpmates, subordinates, or just sexual objects. They are beginning to think of us as companeras. Gradually, the term macho ("he-man") is taking on a pejorative connotation. That's symbolic, isn't it?"
According to Maria Isabel, "more than 30% of the FMLN fighters are women, and the majority of them have children." And this percentage goes down "only slightly" as you go up the scale of responsibilities. In Latin America, this is quite an excep-
"In the liberated zones such as this one, an immense effort has been made to educate the peasants, who support the struggle. It is extremely difficult to convince the peasant women that they should not limit themselves to their traditional women's
But Maria Isabel has no second thoughts about the possibility of winning them over: "This is one of the greatest challenges of the Salvadoran revolution."
MEXICAN PRT CONVENTION