DEMOCRACY GAINING IN EL SALVADOR, U.S. BELIEVES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870063-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: June 2, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504870063-2 STAT
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WASHINGTON POST
2 June 1985
Democracy Gaining in El Salvador,
U.S. Believes
By Joanne Omang
1
~ A hesitant consensus appears to '
be growing in the Reagan admin-
istration and Congress that the ef-
fort to preserve a democratic state
in EI Salvador is succeeding.
The five-year-old Salvadoran civil
war has cost .nearly 50,000 lives.
Fighting and human rights abuses
on both sides continue. U.S. aid to
the Salvadoran government has to-
taled nearly $2 billion since 1981,
and it will have to continue at high
levels for the foreseeable future. El
Salvador's economy is shaky, the
political extremes, though weak-
ened, continue .to operate, and 20
percent of the population has; fled
their homes.
Critics charged that the number
of U.S. advisers was being juggled
by temporary assignments, that a
new air base and gunships were
provided with no warning, that the
certifications were a whitewash of
major abuses and that the admin-
istration was giving lip service to
peace efforts- while :pressing a mil-
. itary solution. `The war seesawed,
and the administration secre au=
t onz covert action against
nei rm icara a m or er rt
c acne , to cut o icara ua's arms
su tote a va oran em as.
vador's ar .198 elec-
tions were a world media event, but
they settled .nothing: Instead,- they
increased the power of the Salva-
doran far right, and the Reagan ad-
ministration was accused of cover-
ing up evidence of death. squad in-
volvement by Roberto D'Aubuis-
son, leader of the opposition party
ARENA. Abuses continued, but
Reagan certified progress four
times.
E3i C?~FZPZ~
In November, Reagan vetoed a
renewal of the certification process
~ in order, officials said, to make it
.clear to the Salvadoran armed
f forces that he didn't need Congress
to push.him on human rights. The
`, U.S. Embassy began leaking names
'; of death squad suspects, and Vice
' President Bush visited El Salvador
in December to warn officials to
clean up their act or face an aid cut-
off. "
"After that they believed us, but
more importantly,. the administra-
tion believed it, too," said a diplo-
mat who served in El Salvador at
the time.
The Kissinger commission re-
ported in January 1984 that the
guerrillas had legitimate griev-
ances, although their Soviet backing
threatened U.S. interests. It rec-
ommended massive economic and
military aid, and in May Congress
approved the first stage of such as-
sistance when the House passed the
bill by a four-vote margin.
The margin reflected the new-
ness and the tentative nature of the
convergence by Congress and the
administration in a joint approach to
El Salvador. It has persisted, with
rough patches, since.
None of the officials interviewed
said he thinks that the accord is
guaranteed to survive, or that
` Duarte is guaranteed success in
revitalizing his economy and achiev-
ing control of his armed forces.
"The key is patience," Motley said.
Long remains among .the most
dubious. ' f there's light at the end
of the tunnel," he said, "it's a pretty
long tunnel."
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504870063-2