EL SALVADOR.
policy, a reduction in the salary of the
President of the Republic, the ministers, the Legislative Assembly members and all
Likehigh-ranking government officials.
wise, a reduction in the salaries of colon-
Demands of the FMLN-FDR in meeting with Duarte els, lieutenant colonels, generals and majors of the Army. Increase in the salaries of army soldiers and a stop to the policy of mistreatment of soldiers in garrisons, as well as physical mistreatment, threats to family members, etc.
The withdrawal of all US mili-
On October 15, in the small village of La Palma, in the department of
Chalatenango, a meeting took place between Salvadoran president Napo- tary aid.
leon Duarte, and a representative of the armed forces, and delegates from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR), in the presence of members of the
Catholic Church.
This meeting. followed a proposal by Duarte, who, several weeks before, had stated before the General Assembly of the
United Nations, that it was the time to put an end to the struggle that covers our country with blood.
On the same occasion, Duarte recognised that 'there was a justification for the guerrilla forces launching the armed struggle in 1979, given that the medieval agricultural system, the financial system at the service of the bankers, and the army which oppressed the people had made a peace- organizations.
ful change impossible', adding however that 'this situation no longer
The demagogy of Duarte's operation is summed up in these ures, aimed at providing protection to words. His proposal also received the blessing of the reactionary Salva- the national and international press, to doran military — aside from Major d'Aubuisson, leader of the National
Republican Alliance (ARENA) - and, in the end, that of the USA.
*taking account of the intensification of the war and the power bills for households.
For its part, worsening situation in the region, the FMLN-FDR expressed its intention to attend [this meeting] to discuss the Salvadoran crisis as a whole and sidies to achieve the reduction in the
(1) We publish below a list of the depresent proposals for a solution'.
mands put forward by the FMLN-FDR during this meeting
1. All the quotations are taken from Inforpress Centroamericana, Guatemala, October 11, 1984.
Our people will never attain peace until the following demands are met:
- Price reduction in articles of popular consumption.
tary advisers; suspension of US mili-
Ending of repression and persecution of the women vendors from the central markets; development of a plan that will allow them to earn a living
- An end to the forced payment to the civil defense in small villages and hamlets. This payment has been taken from the population. written and television media
To establish special legal meas guarantee full freedom of information.
Reduction of water and electric Reestablishment of state subprice. of fuel, materials to transportation workers.
Suspension of school tuition fees at all public schools, and the regulation - based on a limiting chart — of tuition fees at private schools.
- To give preferential treatment and reduction of loans to small and medium-
Deepening and continuation of sized farmers.
- Our people demand the exposure and trial of the culprits in the assassinations of Monsignor Romero, the four
Reestablishment of decree 207 and reduction of the interest rates within
US churchwomen, the companero mem-
- Total suspension of forced re- prise.
bers of the Revolutionary Democratic
Front (FDR) Executive Committee; ex-
- Scholarship funding programs for on all profits and activities of large the agrarian reform in all its stages.
[Phase III of the agrarian reform law].
cruitment [into the army ].
- To give preferential treatment and the credit policy for the small enter-
Increase of 100 percent in taxes
- posure of the assassination of the advisers from the Agrarian Transformation Institute (ISTA), and of the four Dutch journalists. Exposure and trial of the culprits of all political crimes committed - In accordance with the austerity of the Salvadoran people. in recent years.
There will be peace when freedom for all political prisoners is obtained and the situation of the disappeared is clarified.
To stop the bombing of the civilian population and the policy of economic strangulation of inhabitants in zones controlled by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).
- Full respect for the right of organization and mobilization of urban and rural workers. Full respect for the right to strike; demilitarization of workplaces; free mobilization and organization of government workers.
Payment of salaries to teachers and solutions to their most important demands; to set the harvest wage this year at 18 colones per one hundred pounds, and a daily wage for cotton and coffee; a 10 percent general salary increase for bank, trade and industrial workers.
the children of workers.
- Increase of the National University budget.
The FMLN are continuing to fight (DR) * enterprises.
These are the paramount aspirations