From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Subject: El Salvador: Salpress 7/31 - 8/11
Date: 12 Aug 92 22:32:48 GMT
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Organization: PACH
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu

/** reg.elsalvador: 127.0 **/
** Topic: SALPRESS News 08/02/92 **
** Written  4:26 pm  Aug 11, 1992 by salpress in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
                  NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR
          WEEKEND SUMMARY for July 31 - August 24, 1992

                  A Special Service of SALPRESS

TODAY'S TOPICS:
FMLN ALLEGES GOVERNMENT NONCOMPLIANCE:  HALTS DEMOBILIZATION
CHURCH OPPOSES MILITARY SERVICE LAW
ARMS SNARE

FMLN ALLEGES GOVERNMENT NONCOMPLIANCE:  HALTS DEMOBILIZATION

The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) accused the 
government of failing to comply with 46 points in the country's 
peace settlement on Friday, and said it will not demobilize a 
second fifth of its fighting forces until these is reciprocity in 
accords implementation.  At a press conference in San Salvador, 
the five-member rebel General Command charged that the government 
and armed forces have a "strategy" for backing up implementation 
of the peace settlement.  FMLN chief Schafik Handal said that 
among the points being violated by the government are two 
regarding the armed forces, eight having to do with 
socio-economic matters, two related to the cease-fire 
arrangement, four involving human rights, and two concerning the 
National Civil Police (PNC).  Leonel Gonzalez. also of the rebel 
command, said the insurgents' disarmament of a second 20% of the 
its combatants, scheduled to occur that same day, will depend on 
the government taking reciprocal measures.  This is the third 
crisis in peace accords implementation since the government and 
guerrillas signed their agreement to end the war on January 16 in 
Mexico City.  Also on Friday, the FMLN leadership denounced the 
murder of FENASTRAS union federation member Juan Ramirez, who was 
gunned down in the western area of the capital on Thursday night.  
According to the insurgents, the killing was committed by 
ultra-rightists who want to stop the advance of the peace 
process.  Comandante Joaquin Villalobos warned that such violence 
could lead to a breaking of the cease fire implemented on 
February 1 of this year.

CHURCH OPPOSES MILITARY SERVICE LAW

In his Sunday sermon San Salvador's Archbishop Arturo Rivera y 
Damas expressed the Catholic Church's opposition to the recently 
approved Military Service Law.  According to the prelate, some 
points in the law contradict the national peace process and could 
complicate the consolidation of peace in the country.  He 
criticized Articles 6 and 10 of the new law, noting that the 
latter will open the way for military control of society through 
recruitment centers.  According to Rivera y Damas, while Article 
6 appears to grant greater personal freedom by allowing minors 
from ages 16 to 18 to join the army, it will actually result in 
the state's skirting its duty to educate Salvadoran youth.  He 
urged  President Alfredo Cristiani to mark those articles for 
deletion before signing the bill into law.  Commenting on another 
recently passed law, the archbishop termed "positive" the 
speeding up of the FMLN's legalization as a political party.  
Finally, Rivera y Damas said serious human rights violations 
continue in El Salvador, putting the country in danger of 
"returning to a culture of death."  He denounced the 
disappearance of farm worker Hugo Omar Mercado, who was abducted 
by heavily armed men in plainclothes on July 26 in Zacatecoluca, 
24 miles southeast of the capital.  The archbishop cited also the 
discovery of the body of an unidentified man on a highway in 
Santa Ana province.  The man had been "horribly tortured" before 
he was killed, according to Rivera y Damas.

ARMS SNARE

National Police arrested three persons on July 31 on charges of 
possession of an arms cache, allegedly the property of the 
guerrillas.  One of those captured, Rene Flores, admitted to 
being a member of the National Resistance (RN), one of five 
groups making up the FMLN, but said the weapons were being 
transported to Cabanas province, where they were to be turned 
over to ONUSAL, the U.N. observer mission in El Salvador.  On 
Friday, the rebels were to disarm a second fifth of their 
fighting forces per the peace agreement.  Flores, his sister and 
his mother were captured in possession of various types of 
grenades and grenade launching materials.

                            - 30 -

*****************************************************************
NOTE:  Due to a series of unforeseen and disruptive events 
(including an arson attack on our San Salvador headquarters), 
regular production of News Synthesis on El Salvador was suspended 
from late April until now.  We regret the inconvenience this 
interruption may have caused.  Thank you for your patience.

Also, please note that our phone/fax number has changed to:
011-525-21-9096.
*****************************************************************

NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR is a special service of SALPRESS, 
available Monday through Friday.  For more details on information 
included in this summary, contact SALPRESS:  011-525-21-9096 
(fax/phone).
** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **

/** reg.elsalvador: 128.0 **/
** Topic: SALPRESS News 08/04/92 **
** Written  4:27 pm  Aug 11, 1992 by salpress in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
                  NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR
                   for TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1992

                  A Special Service of SALPRESS

NATIONAL CIVIL POLICE DIRECTOR APPROVED

El Salvador's President Alfredo Cristiani swore in the new 
director of the National Civil Police (PNC) on Friday, it was 
revealed yesterday.  J. Maria Monterrey, a governing ARENA party 
legislative alternate and the prosperous owner of a chain of auto 
repair shops, now heads the new civilian police force created 
through the nation's peace settlement.  The PNC directorship 
became a point of controversy after President Cristiani first 
nominated the former head of the government's human rights 
commission, Benjamin Castoni, to the post.  According to the 
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), Castoni 
covered up human rights abuses during the more than 11 years of 
civil war.  But yesterday, the insurgents gave a vote of 
confidence to the president's selection of Monterrey.  Rebel 
leader Ana Guadalupe Martinez said while the director was not 
chosen through a consensus of all sides, as stipulated in the 
peace accords, the FMLN decided to support the president's 
choice.  She added that the insurgents will monitor the new 
director's performance.  On August 31, the first group of 330 PNC 
recruits--20% of these from the FMLN--will begin police 
training.

                             - 30 -

NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR is a service of the Salvadoran 
Press Agency (SALPRESS) available Monday through Friday.  For 
more information phone or fax:  011-525-21-9096.** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **

/** reg.elsalvador: 129.0 **/
** Topic: SALPRESS News 08/11/92 **
** Written  4:27 pm  Aug 11, 1992 by salpress in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
                  NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR
                  for THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1992

                  A Special Service of SALPRESS

TRUTH COMMISSION BEGINS WORK

The Truth Commission officially began work yesterday, hearing the 
first testimony on egregious human rights violations committed in 
El Salvador form 1980 to July 1991.  The commission, provided for 
in April 1991 during the peace negotiations between the 
government and guerrillas, is made up of three international 
dignitaries:  a former Colombian president, Belisario Betancur; 
Venezuela's former chancellor, Reinaldo Figueredo; and the 
ex-president of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, U.S. 
citizen Thomas Buergenthal.  The special panel urged full 
cooperation from Salvadorans and promised absolute 
confidentiality to those giving testimony.  While the panel has 
no power to prosecute those found guilty of abuses, many 
Salvadorans believe learning the truth about assassinations, 
massacres and forced disappearances will aid the nation's 
reconciliation process.  The commission has six months to 
complete its investigative task covering the period from the 
war's beginning to installation of the U.N. peace verification 
mission, ONUSAL.

                             - 30 -

NEWS SYNTHESIS ON EL SALVADOR is a service of the Salvadoran 
Press Agency (SALPRESS) available Monday through Friday.  For 
more information, phone or fax:  011-525-21-9096.
** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **
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