From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: EL SALVADOR -- COMING HOME FROM WAR
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 08:23:07 GMT

The ACTivist, Volume 8 #9, September 1992.

The ACTivist, Ontario's peace monthly, is published by ACT for
Disarmament, 736 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2R4,
phone 416-531-6154, fax 416-531-5850, e-mail web:act. Hard copy
subscriptions are $10 for a year ($25 for institutions and funded
agencies).

Reprint freely, but please credit us (and send us a copy!)

/** gen.newsletter: 138.7 **/
** Written  8:54 pm  Aug 31, 1992 by web:act in cdp:gen.newsletter **
EL SALVADOR -- COMING HOME FROM WAR

By Margaret Sumadh
The ACTivist

El Salvador is still a wounded land, but the people are working to 
cleanse the wounds. The peace agreements signed in January 1992 
put an end to the longstanding war; now Salvadorans are trying to put
 together the infrastructure for a country operating in peacetime. For 
most, this is a new experience.

One of the most pressing questions is the future of the far too many 
young men who have spent years of their lives in the military.

Men who were forced conscripts into the Government army in their 
teens are now being released into civilian lives. Their only skills are 
military -- reacting to orders and using a gun -- and their ability to 
incorporate themselves into civilian life is as yet unknown. 

These young men had viewed their conscription with mixed feelings. 
On the one hand, their families had one less mouth to feed and clothe, 
maybe they had some money to send home; certainly the young 
conscript gained some sense of status. Their role, however, was to 
protect the interests of the rich, the landowners, the businesses, to kill 
and maim those of their compatriots who threatened those interests, 
even if it were by organizing the workers for an improvement in the 
appalling working conditions.

How will these footsoldiers be treated? Will they become victims of 
their own actions? Young people are scarred forever by the enormity 
of the inhuman tasks they were ordered to carry out. They are easy 
to spot -- uncomfortable with people, unused to making decisions. 
Where do they belong?

In reality their fate will probably vary, but the capacity of the 
Salvadoran people to forgive, in the light of the hope that the Peace 
Accords have brought, is astounding.

And what of the other footsoldiers? What of the youngsters, men 
and women, who were recruited to join the FMLN troops? Often 
very young when they volunteered, they played a different role in 
the conflict, but their problems now are similar.

They knew what they were fighting for -- the rights of the people. 
Their leaders ate and walked with them. The victory of the Peace 
Accords was theirs too. They have been part of the struggle for a 
meaningful peace and are received into the arms of those for whom 
they fought.

But their dilemma now is real too. Their skills are also military; they 
know how to use arms, are accustomed to moving from camp to camp. 
They have little education, know little about the farming of their family 
plot.

They too need training. And the very land that these young people 
came from is often unavailable through takeover by landowners who 
are disputing peasants' rights, or may have been made unworkable by
 the effects of bombing and lack of water.

Many who have lived so much of their young lives fighting are finding 
a negotiated settlement hard to comprehend. The difficulty of planning 
their futures, with communities uprooted, family members killed, 
many disabled, looms before them. Meanwhile they are camping in 
cramped conditions, with shortages of food and facilities. The lucky 
ones are getting some education and retraining,but many are not so 
lucky.

Retraining for both these groups is dependent on funds from 
internationals. The U.S. government has sent funds for the retraining 
and entry into civilian lives for both groups, but some of these funds 
are being held back until the Christiani government, and to an extent 
the FMLN, comply more fully with the terms of the Accords. As for 
they Canadian government, they have sent funds for camp latrines, 
though there is hope of longer-term funding.

All demobilization for FMLN troops is scheduled to be completed by 
October 31; government troops by 1994.



** End of text from cdp:gen.newsletter **

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