The End of El Salvador's Civil War

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2017

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

In January 1992 a peace treaty was signed by El Salvador's Marxist FMLN rebels and the US-backed government to end one of the most bitterly fought Cold War conflicts in Latin America. It took two years of UN-brokered negotiations to reach a deal, which saw the FMLN lay down its weapons and become a legal political party. In return, the government agreed to radical reforms of the military and the creation of a new civilian police force. Mike Lanchin hears from a former female guerrilla about her experience of war and peace.

Photo: Two women launch doves during celebrations in San Salvador of the peace accords signed by the government and the guerrillas (FRANCISCO CAMPOS/AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the witness podcast on the BBC World Service with me Mike Lanchin.
0:05.3	And today we're going back to 1991 and a historic peace deal to end El Salvador's Civil War,
0:11.8	one of the most brutal Cold War conflicts in Latin America.
0:15.0	It's only the first step towards a full agreement, but any success in ending a savage 12-year
0:20.2	war deserved applause. The rebels and the government committed
0:24.8	themselves to a ceasefire on February the 1st and a lasting peace before November.
0:28.9	The midnight deal was a present for Mr Perez de Coelier just before he left office as UN Secretary General,
0:35.0	quenching another of the world's dirty wars on his home continent.
0:39.0	It had taken two long years of intense negotiations brokered by the UN to bring the bitter enemies to an accord.
0:46.6	The first details reached El Salvador as the new year was celebrated.
0:50.3	There's been an enthusiastic welcome for the deal, but many warnings are the difficulties ahead.
0:55.0	In particular, the military hardliners may resist the reduction in their power,
0:59.0	and the investigation is now going ahead into the Army's past cruelties.
1:04.0	I felt a mixture of emotions, happiness that the peace talks had come to an end but doubts over whether the agreement
1:14.4	would be respected. Maria Tarese was part of the left-wing rebels the
1:18.4	Frente Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front Ephamalan that had fought for 12 years to
1:24.3	overthrow the government backed by the United States. Over Skype from San
1:28.8	Salvador she told me what had gone through her mind as the war came to an end.
1:37.0	Happiness to be going back to my family, but at the same time uncertainty about what I was going to do.
1:47.0	I had nothing, no career, nowhere to live.
1:50.0	So there was a huge mixture of uncertainty and doubts.
1:54.0	Thousands of rebels like Maria Theresa handed in their weapons and returned to civilian life under the peace deal.
	...

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