From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: El Salvador: PROCESO 529: Honduras border dispute
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 22:56:43 GMT

/** reg.elsalvador: 165.0 **/
** Topic: Proceso 529: Region **
** Written  8:58 am  Sep 14, 1992 by cidai@huracan.cr in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
From: cidai@huracan.cr (Centro de Informacion Documentacion y Apoyo a la Invest. - UCAJSC)
Subject: Proceso 529: Region

Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI)
Central American University (UCA)
San Salvador, El Salvador
 
PROCESO 529
September 9, 1992
 
REGION:
The El Salvador-Honduras border dispute is about to be resolved
 
     The dispute between El Salvador and Honduras over territorial,
sea and island jurisdiction, which dates back to 1742, will be
resolved on September 11. Following the "100-hour war" between the
two nations, and after a series of measures taken to achieve
peaceful coexistence, a general peace treaty was signed in October
1980. The treaty included, among other issues, the definition of
two-thirds of the border separating the two nations. The definition
of the remaining one-third of the disputed territory was brought
before the World Court in The Hague in 1986, by common agreement
between Honduras and El Salvador. There are six "pockets"
[bolsones] in question: Tepanguisir (70.3 sq.km.), Cayaguanca (38.1
sq.km.), Zazalapa (51.0 sq.km.), Nahuaterique (148.4 sq.km.),
Dolores (54.8 sq.km.) and Goascoran (57.0 sq.km), as well as 32
islands and islets located in the Gulf of Fonseca.
     It has been a long wait, but the World Court is about to
finally issue its unappealable judgement in The Hague, Netherlands,
where foreign ministers Jose Manuel Pacas Castro (El Salvador) and
Mario Carias Zapata (Honduras) will be waiting. Simultaneously, on
the El Amatillo bridge spanning the Goascoran River, which runs
between the two countries, presidents Alfredo Cristiani of El
Salvador and Rafael Leonardo Callejas of Honduras, together with
the heads of their respective legislatures and members of each
Supreme Court, will meet to hear the verdict. Also present will be
the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS),
Joao Baena Soares; the president of the Central American
Parliament, Roberto Carpio Nicolle; and archbishops Arturo Rivera
Damas of El Salvador and Hector Enrique Santos of Honduras.
     However, even before the resolution has been handed down in
The Hague, the atmosphere is charged with expectations which range
from the possibility of a new conflict between the countries, all
the way to the prospects of a new and closer relationship based on
the seriousness and respect which with the verdict will be handled.
There are clearly two different levels of expectations regarding
the upcoming judgment:
     In the first place, at the highest levels, in other words,
from the viewpoint of the governments and civil and military
authorities of both countries, the idea of another war makes no
sense in the context of the process of regional integration and
pacification. Therefore a good part of the rumors heard to this
effect are likely to be mere speculations, many of which could have
been originated by unscrupulous politicians who would apparently
like to keep the flames of nationalist conflict alive. The defense
ministers of El Salvador and Honduras (Rene Emilio Ponce and Luis
Discua, respectively) each agreed to respect the verdict and denied
any warlike sentiments on either side, thereby invalidating the
possibility of a new war. However, before the generals made their
statements, the two held a meeting in Palmerola, Honduras, to find
out if there was any truth in the accusations that the Honduran
army was maintaining a strong presence within the disputed zones.
The dispute was cleared up by arguments that casual unit patrols
were criss-crossing the zones without maintaining any permanent
presence there.
     Nevertheless, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of El
Salvador, Ricardo Valdivieso, reported on September 7 that there
was concern in El Salvador about alleged "aggressive" statements
made by some Honduran officials and military officers which could
suggest future tensions between the two countries. In any case,
Honduran Vice-president Jacobo Hernandez denied any warlike
attitudes in his country, and claimed that both the Armed Forces
and the rest of the Honduran people were anxiously awaiting the
verdict, fully conscious that it would be respected.
     In this regard, the National Association of Private Enterprise
(ANEP) issued a call to reason, counseling prudence and a sense of
civic and Central American consciousness in response to the verdict
to be issued on September 11. The business group also stated that
the imminent legal definition of the borders must serve more to
"unite people than to separate them."
     The past several weeks have seen a series of preparations for
the ceremony. The Vice-president of Honduras, accompanied by a
committee, arrived in San Salvador on September 5 to meet with
President Cristiani and Foreign Ministry officials in order to draw
up a plan of activities. A bipartite commission, know as the
Demarcation Commission, was created to mark the new border between
the two countries. On this topic, Vice-minister Ricardo Valdivieso,
who was named president of the Salvadoran part of the commission,
explained on September 7 that the group would first try to soothe
nerves and answer the concerns of those residing in the "pockets"
which could pass from one nation to another, in order to promote
greater understanding of the new border definitions.
     This work to be carried out by the Salvadoran commission is of
the greatest importance if we take into account the other level of
expectations around the upcoming World Court resolution:
     On another level, that of the population as a whole and in
particular those who live in the disputed territories, the
expectations are hazier and more uncertain. Speculations about a
war are primarily felt in the form of residents' fear of losing
their lands and becoming the object of aggression on the basis of
one or the other nationality. According to a local newspaper, on
September 2 a family arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, after
abandoning the island of Meanguera, in the Gulf of Fonseca, for
fear of persecution if the island was given to El Salvador.
According to the Honduran press, this is not the only such case,
since other families are also leaving the island for mainland
Honduras to await the Court ruling. In that context, on September
7, residents of Meanguera complained about a campaign launched by
Honduran media, apparently giving the impression that the island
belongs to Honduras, disregarding the fact that most of its
inhabitants consider themselves Salvadorans.
     In a similar fashion, campesinos who consider themselves
Hondurans but who live in the Goascoran "pocket" said on September
8 that they would never renounce their nationality, and would not
leave their lands even if the court awards the territory to El
Salvador. As we can see, despite calls to reason, the areas in
dispute are pervaded with uncertainty and fears about what will
happen after the ruling. Given certain antecedents, some political
analysts predict the possibility of civil violence among residents
of the disputed areas.
     In general, a large part of the fears could be due to the lack
of a thorough understanding of the potential inherent in the
current situation. The integrationist tendencies governing the
Central American region leave little room for the armed conflict
that some have groundlessly predicted.
 

** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **

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