Losing Ground

Death threats, army setbacks

Nicaragua was not the only Central American country in which the Roman Catholic Church was under attack last week. In neighboring El Salvador, the nation's two highest-ranking prelates became targets of a campaign of intimidation by death squads. In a terse communique delivered to a radio station, the rightist Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez Anti-Communist Brigade warned Archbishop Arturo Rivera y Damas and Monsignor Gregorio Rosa Chavez that they would suffer "drastic consequences" if their Sunday sermons did not stop criticizing human rights violations and urging dialogue with leftist guerrillas. The menace was taken seriously: El Salvador's last archbishop, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was assassinated in 1980 after receiving similar threats. In a grisly reminder of the death squads' effectiveness, government soldiers last week unearthed the bodies of nine victims who had apparently been strangled for being involved in peasant unions that back land reform.

The rise in terror reflects the growing frustrations of the far right, which includes powerful members of El Salvador's wealthy landowning class. They see their influence slipping as the U.S.-backed government of Provisional President Alvaro Alfredo Magana continues to press for land reform and peaceful elections.

Diplomats are now convinced that the death squads include army officers and aides close to Roberto d'Aubuisson, president of the Constituent Assembly and head of the right-wing ARENA Party. U.S. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering has warned that continued U.S. economic and military aid would depend on evidence that the government was making an effort to "deal with [the terrorism] directly." During a visit to El Salvador last week, Under Secretary of Defense Fred Ikle charged that the death squads actually "serve the Communist cause."

Equally alarming to the Administration are recent indications that left-wing guerrillas have been gaining ground in El Salvador's countryside. In the past two months some 7,000 rebels have attacked more than 60 towns, putting the country's U.S.-trained 25,000-man army on the defensive. Acknowledged a military observer: "The Salvadoran forces are tired and frustrated. Their morale has been shot." Evidence of the increased influence of the guerrillas can be seen in the hamlet of Chirilagua, 90 miles southeast of San Salvador. In September, 200 rebels attacked, routing the 20-man National Guard detachment. Since then, guerrillas have openly shared power with the mayor. Says a rebel soldier in Chirilagua: "The army is demoralized. Even though they are being trained by U.S. troops, we keep on handing them defeats."

U.S. military advisers blame the setbacks on commanders who are still waging a "9-to-5 war." But defeats in the field may reflect deeper political problems, including the absence of widespread support for the government and continued feuding between rightist and moderate factions. A government-appointed peace commission has met with guerrilla representatives several times to try to arrange some kind of settlement. But so far neither side has shown much willingness to trade its guns for seats at a negotiating table. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.