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Country in Central America, bounded N and E
by Honduras, S and SW by the Pacific Ocean,
and NW by Guatemala. government The 1983
constitution, amended 1985, provides for a
president elected by universal suffrage for a
five-year term, assisted by an appointed vice
president and a council of ministers. There
is a single-chamber national assembly of 60,
elected by universal suffrage for a
three-year term. history Conquered by Spain
1523, El Salvador achieved independence 1829.
Since then there have been frequent coups and
political violence. After a coup 1961 the
conservative Party of National Conciliation
(PCN) was established, winning all the seats
in the national assembly. PCN stayed in
power, with reports of widespread human
rights violations, until challenged 1979 by a
socialist guerrilla movement, the Farabundo
Marti Liberation Front. A civilian-military
junta deposed the president and promised to
introduce democracy and free elections,
though these were postponed as the violence
continued. In 1980 the archbishop of San
Salvador, Oscar Romero, a well-known champion
of human rights, was shot dead in his
cathedral. The murder of three US nuns and a
social worker prompted US president Carter to
suspend economic and military aid. In 1980
Jose Duarte, leader of a left-of-centre
coalition, became president. The Reagan
administration supported him, as an
anti-communist, and encouraged him to call
elections 1982. The left-wing parties refused
to participate, and the elections were held
amid great violence, at least 40 people being
killed on election day. The extreme
right-wing ARENA party eventually won. During
1982 some 1,600 Salvadorean troops were
trained in the USA and US military advisers
were said to be actively involved in the
country's internal conflict. It was estimated
that about 35,000 people were killed 1979-82.
Despite a new constitution 1983, guerrilla
activity continued. Duarte won the 1984
presidential election and in 1985 the
anti-imperialist PDC won a convincing victory
in the assembly, with 33 seats. The
right-wing groups ARENA and PCN won 13 and 12
seats respectively, fighting the election on
a joint platform. In 1984 the president's
daughter was abducted by guerrillas, forcing
him to negotiate with them, in the face of
criticism from opposition parties and the
military. The guerrilla war continued, Duarte
again attempting, in 1986, to negotiate a
settlement with the rebels. In Aug 1987 they
agreed to meet and discuss the Regional Peace
Plan with him. The peace initiative
eventually collapsed and in the Mar 1989
elections the right-wing Alfredo Cristiani
became president, taking up office in June.
In Sept the socialist guerrilla movement
agreed to hold peace talks.