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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: El Salvador: coming home from war
- Message-ID: <1992Sep4.004555.27297@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: PACH
- Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 00:45:55 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 57
-
- /** wri.news: 501.0 **/
- ** Topic: El Salvador: coming home from war **
- ** Written 8:55 pm Sep 3, 1992 by gn:peacenews in cdp:wri.news **
- El Salvador: coming home from war
-
- MARGARET SUMADH
-
- The peace agreements signed in January 1992 put an end to the
- longstanding war in El Salvador; now Salvadoreans 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 conscripts.
- Men who were forced into the government forces in their teens are
- now being released into civilian lives. Many of them were
- involved in atrocities during their service.
-
- Most have mixed feelings about their time in the army, and some
- have serious psychological problems. They are easy to spot on the
- street: uncomfortable with people, unused to making decisions. In
- reality their fate will probably vary, but the capacity of the
- Salvadorean 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 forces of the Frente
- Farabundo Marti de Liberaci"n Nacional (FMLN)? Often very young
- when they volunteered, they played a different role in the
- conflict, but their problems now are similar. 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.
-
- Retraining for both these groups is dependent on funds from
- internationals. The US 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 Cristiani
- government, and to an extent the FMLN, comply more fully with the
- terms of the Accords.
-
- All demobilisation of FMLN troops is scheduled to be completed by
- 31 October; government troops by 1994.
-
- SOURCE = The ACTivist
-
- ************************************************************
- Reprinted from _Peace News_ September 1992. Please credit if
- reprinting. Peace News and War Resisters' International,
- 55 Dawes St, London SE17 1EL (tel +44 71 703 7189; fax
- 708 2545; email peacenews@gn.apc.org)
- *************************************
- ** End of text from cdp:wri.news **
-