José Napoleón Duarte
Encyclopedia
José Napoleón Duarte Fuentes (November 23, 1925 – February 23, 1990) was a Salvadoran
political figure who, from March 3, 1980, to 1982, led the civil-military
Revolutionary Government Junta that took power in a 1979 coup d'état
. He also served as civilian President of El Salvador
between June 1, 1984, and June 1, 1989.
in the department of the same name
. While he was studying at Liceo Salvadoreño
in May 1944, he took part in the protests that brought down the twelve-year-old regime of then-President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
. Other military regimes followed, and in 1945 he crossed the border into Guatemala
to join the opposition in exile
. Although he spoke no English at the time, his father enrolled him in the University of Notre Dame
in Indiana
, United States
. In 1948, having worked doing dishes and laundry in order to support himself through his studies, he graduated with a degree in engineering
before returning to an El Salvador uncomfortably transitioning to a democracy. He married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Inés Durán, with whom he had 6 children: Inés Guadalupe, Alejandro, Napoleón, María Eugenia, María Elena, and Ana Lorena. Duarte got a job in his father-in-law's construction firm and, at the same time, began teaching.
(PDC) which searched for a middle ground between the extreme right and the extreme left. Even as part of the United Democratic Party (PUD), the PDC failed to gain a seat in that year's National Congress
elections. After boycott
ing the 1962 presidential elections, Duarte became Mayor
of San Salvador
in March 1964. He initiated the Adult Evening Schools helping a lot of adult workers to be new technicians and get also High School Diplomas. He supported emergent sectors of the economy and a redistribution of wealth within the restraints of a modern economy, Duarte easily won the next 2 election for mayor in March 1966 and March 1968. After leaving office in 1970, he set up his own estate agency until he ran in the February 20, 1972 presidential election under a political grouping called the United National Opposition (UNO). He lost to Arturo Armando Molina
in an election that was widely viewed as fraudulent, with Molina declared the winner even though Duarte was said to have received a majority of the votes; poll watchers claimed the real vote tally was 327,000 for Duarte and 318,000 for Molina.
On March 25, 1972, a coup d'état
was attempted by left-wing military officers who supported Duarte. The coup was suppressed and Duarte was arrested. He was subjected to torture, including having three fingers of his left hand mutilated. (A popular myth - actually his fingers were damaged in an industrial accident.) He was condemned to death for high treason
, but international pressure forced Molina to grant him exile, which he obtained in Venezuela
. Duarte got a job as an engineering advisor and became involved as a private investor in various construction projects. He was also given posts in the international Christian Democratic movement. In 1974, he returned to El Salvador where he was promptly arrested and returned to Venezuela
. There has been much speculation on why Duarte was the target of such political animosity, including the theory that the 1972 elections were a fraud by Molina's party.
. Duarte had returned to El Salvador and on March 3, 1980, he joined the Junta, becoming El Salvador's foreign minister. On December 22, 1980, he became the head of state and of the Junta. The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
(FMLN) responded by launching an all out attack on the government on January 10, 1981, which resulted in the regime receiving immediate military aid and advisors from the United States of America. With the arrival of the new US government of Ronald Reagan
, Duarte became a symbol for anti-communist resistance in Central America
.
On March 28, 1982, elections were held to the National Congress in which Duarte's Christian Democratic Party (PDC) party gained 24 of the 60 seats, putting them in opposition against the Nationalist Republican Alliance
(ARENA) party which gained 36 seats. On May 2, he handed over power to Álvaro Magaña, who had been chosen President by the National Congress. During his time at the head of the JRG, Duarte initiated land reform, nationalized certain industries such as sugar and denounced human rights
violations by the military and the FMLN alike. However, members of the military and affiliated death squad
paramilitaries
continued to carry out atrocities against suspected guerrilla sympathizers during his rule as the head of JRG.
, Duarte (running as the PDC candidate) came in first with 43.4% of the vote. In the second round, on May 6, he won with 53.6% of the vote against the Nationalist Republican Alliance
(ARENA) candidate, Roberto D'Aubuisson
. The elections were marred by violence between the FMLN and Salvadoran military at and near the polling stations. Since D'Aubuisson and the ARENA party were widely alleged to have close links with death squads, the Central Intelligence Agency
used approximately US$2 million to support the democratic election and to prevent violence at the voting polls. The election was nevertheless considered only the second truly free and fair presidential election in El Salvador's history, as well as the first in over half a century.
Duarte became President on June 1. He was determined to end the civil war by "dialogue without arms", and on October 15, 1984, in La Palma, Chalatenango
, he met FMLN leaders face to face, which marked the beginning of the end of the civil war. Contrary to popular belief, Duarte did not offer to have the negotiations; instead, the negotiations began because Duarte accepted a long-standing offer by the guerrillas. The guerrillas had been offering negotiations since May 1983, but he consistently refused them until October 1984. His basic goal was to see the guerrillas disarm and then demobilize so that their members could be reincorporated into society. He argued that the issues that caused them to rise up in armed struggle had either been or were in the process of being resolved.
The FMLN demanded that the ARENA party be banned from participating in the political life of the country, making the dialogue between the two sides difficult. During 1985, Duarte tried to improve the record of the state by banning the Salvadoran Air Force
from bombing civilian areas without presidential permission, creating an Investigative Commission to investigate political assassinations and persecuting the right-wing death squads that were alleged to be embedded in the state security services. However, his government was steadily undermined by his inability to control the excesses from certain quarters within the state.
On March 31, in the 1985 congressional elections
, the PDC gained a majority with 33 seats. ARENA's loss of control in the Congress enabled Duarte to more easily achieve his goals. On September 10, 1985, Inés Guadalupe Duarte Durán and her friend, Ana Cecilia Villeda, arrived by car at the gates of a private university in San Salvador. They were followed in a van by two bodyguards assigned to protect them. As the two vehicles came to a stop, other vehicles positioned themselves so as to block traffic while a number of armed individuals killed the bodyguards and forced the two women into a truck. The two women were taken to a guerrilla camp.
Four days after the incident, the self-styled Pedro Pablo Castillo commando of the FMLN publicly announced that it was responsible for the abduction of the women. In spite of angering the military, Duarte's family was sent to the United States for their safety, and he began the negotiations for the release of Inés Duarte and Ana Cecilia Villeda.
On October 24, after several weeks of negotiations in which the Salvadoran church and diplomats from the region acted as mediators in secret talks, Inés Duarte and her friend were released in exchange for 22 political prisoners. The operation also included the release of 25 mayors and local officials abducted by FMLN in exchange for 101 war wounded guerrillas, whom the government allowed to leave the country. The entire process of exchanging prisoners, which took place in various parts of the country, was carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In a communiqué from the FMLN General Command broadcast by Radio Venceremos on the day Inés Duarte was released, the General Command assumed full responsibility for the operation and described the actions of the commando, including the killing of the bodyguards, as "impeccable". The abduction of Inés Duarte and Ana Cecilia Villeda was widely denounced as a violation of international law
.
In 1986, Duarte's tax reform plans, bitterly opposed by ARENA, were judged unconstitutional. In August, he participated in the historic Esquipulas
II agreement with other leaders to lay the groundwork for a firm and lasting peace in Central America
, outlining the demobilization of the guerrilla groups in El Salvador, Guatemala
and Nicaragua
. On October 5, 1987, dialogue with the FMLN began again in which it was the Third dialogue, and on October 28, Congress passed an amnesty law, just two days after Herbert Anaya
, the president of the special United Nations
Human Rights Commission for El Salvador, was assassinated. Anaya's assassination was widely interpreted as a sign of disapproval of the peace process.
Duarte was criticized by the Organization of American States and they demanded a deep investigation. As a result, Duarte offered a reward of $10,000 and asked the Commission of Interamerican Human Rights to investigate. The National police arrested a suspect Jorge Alberto Miranda Arevalo who confessed that he acted as a look out for the gang. He said he was a member of one of the guerrillas groups "the ERP." He was judged and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Duarte was increasingly seen as powerless not only between the two opposing forces of left and right but also in terms of the US anti-communist political influence in the region. With corruption scandals, an economy in tatters, rumors of a right-wing coup and a civil war that did not appear to have a solution, the government became ineffective, unstable and unable to stop the indiscriminate violence and brutality. In the March 20 1988 elections
, the PDC were soundly beaten by ARENA.
In June 1988, Duarte was rushed to a military hospital in Washington, D.C.
, where he was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer
and given between 6 months and a year to live. Both the diagnosis and prognosis became public knowledge. In spite of having to stay in the United States for surgery
and chemotherapy
, he refused to resign as President, and he was able to hand power over democratically to Alfredo Cristiani
in June 1989. He died aged 64 in San Salvador on February 23, 1990. He was later confirmed to have been a CIA asset by US Ambassador to El Salvador Robert White
. http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/RbtWhite.html
His Book "Duarte: My Story"
Ing. Jose N. Duarte wrote: "When the structures and values of Salvadoran society exemplify a democratic system, then the revolution I have worked for will have taken place. his is my dream" (Duarte, Duarte: My Story, G.P. Putnam Sons, 1986 ISBN 0-399-13202-3)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965912-2,00.html Article about Herbert Sanabria's murder in 1987.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
political figure who, from March 3, 1980, to 1982, led the civil-military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
Revolutionary Government Junta that took power in a 1979 coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. He also served as civilian President of El Salvador
President of El Salvador
This page contains a list of Presidents of El Salvador.-Heads of State of El Salvador within the Federal Republic of Central America :*Pedro Barriere : 21 September 1821 - 28 November 1821*José Matías Delgado : 28 Nov 1821 - 9 February 1823...
between June 1, 1984, and June 1, 1989.
Career
Duarte was born in Santa AnaSanta Ana, El Salvador
Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador, located 64 kilometers west of San Salvador, the capital city. Santa Ana has approximately 274,830 inhabitants and serves both as the capital of the department of Santa Ana and...
in the department of the same name
Santa Ana Department
Santa Ana is a department of El Salvador in the northwest of the country. The capital is Santa Ana.- General information :It has 2,023 km² and a population of over 600,000. This department was created on February 8, 1855...
. While he was studying at Liceo Salvadoreño
Liceo Salvadoreño
Liceo Salvadoreño is a private Catholic educational institution located in San Salvador, El Salvador. The School is under the guidance of the Marist Brothers since 1924...
in May 1944, he took part in the protests that brought down the twelve-year-old regime of then-President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was the President of El Salvador from 1931 to 1944...
. Other military regimes followed, and in 1945 he crossed the border into Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
to join the opposition in exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. Although he spoke no English at the time, his father enrolled him in the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1948, having worked doing dishes and laundry in order to support himself through his studies, he graduated with a degree in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
before returning to an El Salvador uncomfortably transitioning to a democracy. He married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Inés Durán, with whom he had 6 children: Inés Guadalupe, Alejandro, Napoleón, María Eugenia, María Elena, and Ana Lorena. Duarte got a job in his father-in-law's construction firm and, at the same time, began teaching.
Mayor of San Salvador
In 1960, he became a founding member and Secretary General of the Christian Democratic PartyChristian Democratic Party (El Salvador)
The Christian Democratic Party is a political party in El Salvador.In the legislative elections, held on 16 March 2003, the party won 7.3% of the popular vote and 5 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly. In the presidential election of 21 March 2004, the PDC supported Héctor Silva Argüello...
(PDC) which searched for a middle ground between the extreme right and the extreme left. Even as part of the United Democratic Party (PUD), the PDC failed to gain a seat in that year's National Congress
Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
The Legislative Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of El Salvador.The Salvadoran legislature is a unicameral body....
elections. After boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ing the 1962 presidential elections, Duarte became Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
in March 1964. He initiated the Adult Evening Schools helping a lot of adult workers to be new technicians and get also High School Diplomas. He supported emergent sectors of the economy and a redistribution of wealth within the restraints of a modern economy, Duarte easily won the next 2 election for mayor in March 1966 and March 1968. After leaving office in 1970, he set up his own estate agency until he ran in the February 20, 1972 presidential election under a political grouping called the United National Opposition (UNO). He lost to Arturo Armando Molina
Arturo Armando Molina
Colonel Arturo Armando Molina is a former President of El Salvador. He served between July 1, 1972 and July 1, 1977. Molina was a member of the National Conciliation Party....
in an election that was widely viewed as fraudulent, with Molina declared the winner even though Duarte was said to have received a majority of the votes; poll watchers claimed the real vote tally was 327,000 for Duarte and 318,000 for Molina.
On March 25, 1972, a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
was attempted by left-wing military officers who supported Duarte. The coup was suppressed and Duarte was arrested. He was subjected to torture, including having three fingers of his left hand mutilated. (A popular myth - actually his fingers were damaged in an industrial accident.) He was condemned to death for high treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, but international pressure forced Molina to grant him exile, which he obtained in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Duarte got a job as an engineering advisor and became involved as a private investor in various construction projects. He was also given posts in the international Christian Democratic movement. In 1974, he returned to El Salvador where he was promptly arrested and returned to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. There has been much speculation on why Duarte was the target of such political animosity, including the theory that the 1972 elections were a fraud by Molina's party.
Junta leader
On October 15, 1979, a Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) took control of El Salvador at the beginning of a full scale civil warEl Salvador Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War was a conflict in El Salvador between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing militias. Significant tensions and violence had already existed, before the civil...
. Duarte had returned to El Salvador and on March 3, 1980, he joined the Junta, becoming El Salvador's foreign minister. On December 22, 1980, he became the head of state and of the Junta. The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front is, since 1992, a left-wing political party in El Salvador and formerly a coalition of five revolutionary guerrilla organizations...
(FMLN) responded by launching an all out attack on the government on January 10, 1981, which resulted in the regime receiving immediate military aid and advisors from the United States of America. With the arrival of the new US government of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Duarte became a symbol for anti-communist resistance in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
On March 28, 1982, elections were held to the National Congress in which Duarte's Christian Democratic Party (PDC) party gained 24 of the 60 seats, putting them in opposition against the Nationalist Republican Alliance
Nationalist Republican Alliance
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time...
(ARENA) party which gained 36 seats. On May 2, he handed over power to Álvaro Magaña, who had been chosen President by the National Congress. During his time at the head of the JRG, Duarte initiated land reform, nationalized certain industries such as sugar and denounced human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations by the military and the FMLN alike. However, members of the military and affiliated death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
paramilitaries
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
continued to carry out atrocities against suspected guerrilla sympathizers during his rule as the head of JRG.
President
On March 25, 1984, in the 1984 presidential electionsSalvadoran presidential election, 1984
Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 25 March 1984, with a second round on 6 May. The Salvadoran people elected a new president, together with a vice-president, for a five-year term...
, Duarte (running as the PDC candidate) came in first with 43.4% of the vote. In the second round, on May 6, he won with 53.6% of the vote against the Nationalist Republican Alliance
Nationalist Republican Alliance
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time...
(ARENA) candidate, Roberto D'Aubuisson
Roberto D'Aubuisson
Major Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta was the Salvadoran Army officer and political leader who founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance , which he led from 1980 to 1985...
. The elections were marred by violence between the FMLN and Salvadoran military at and near the polling stations. Since D'Aubuisson and the ARENA party were widely alleged to have close links with death squads, the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
used approximately US$2 million to support the democratic election and to prevent violence at the voting polls. The election was nevertheless considered only the second truly free and fair presidential election in El Salvador's history, as well as the first in over half a century.
Duarte became President on June 1. He was determined to end the civil war by "dialogue without arms", and on October 15, 1984, in La Palma, Chalatenango
Chalatenango Department
Chalatenango is a department of El Salvador, located in the northwest of the country. The capital is the city of Chalatenango. The Chalatenango Department encompasses 2,017 km² and contains more than 220,000 inhabitants. Las Matras Archaeological Ruins contains the relics of prehistoric...
, he met FMLN leaders face to face, which marked the beginning of the end of the civil war. Contrary to popular belief, Duarte did not offer to have the negotiations; instead, the negotiations began because Duarte accepted a long-standing offer by the guerrillas. The guerrillas had been offering negotiations since May 1983, but he consistently refused them until October 1984. His basic goal was to see the guerrillas disarm and then demobilize so that their members could be reincorporated into society. He argued that the issues that caused them to rise up in armed struggle had either been or were in the process of being resolved.
The FMLN demanded that the ARENA party be banned from participating in the political life of the country, making the dialogue between the two sides difficult. During 1985, Duarte tried to improve the record of the state by banning the Salvadoran Air Force
Military of El Salvador
The Armed Forces of El Salvador, in Spanish Fuerza Armada de El Salvador is the official name of the combined armed forces of El Salvador...
from bombing civilian areas without presidential permission, creating an Investigative Commission to investigate political assassinations and persecuting the right-wing death squads that were alleged to be embedded in the state security services. However, his government was steadily undermined by his inability to control the excesses from certain quarters within the state.
On March 31, in the 1985 congressional elections
Salvadoran legislative election, 1985
Legislative elections were held in El Salvador on 31 March 1985. The result was a victory for the Christian Democratic Party, which won 33 of the 60 seats. Voter turnout was 42%.-Results:-Bibliography:...
, the PDC gained a majority with 33 seats. ARENA's loss of control in the Congress enabled Duarte to more easily achieve his goals. On September 10, 1985, Inés Guadalupe Duarte Durán and her friend, Ana Cecilia Villeda, arrived by car at the gates of a private university in San Salvador. They were followed in a van by two bodyguards assigned to protect them. As the two vehicles came to a stop, other vehicles positioned themselves so as to block traffic while a number of armed individuals killed the bodyguards and forced the two women into a truck. The two women were taken to a guerrilla camp.
Four days after the incident, the self-styled Pedro Pablo Castillo commando of the FMLN publicly announced that it was responsible for the abduction of the women. In spite of angering the military, Duarte's family was sent to the United States for their safety, and he began the negotiations for the release of Inés Duarte and Ana Cecilia Villeda.
On October 24, after several weeks of negotiations in which the Salvadoran church and diplomats from the region acted as mediators in secret talks, Inés Duarte and her friend were released in exchange for 22 political prisoners. The operation also included the release of 25 mayors and local officials abducted by FMLN in exchange for 101 war wounded guerrillas, whom the government allowed to leave the country. The entire process of exchanging prisoners, which took place in various parts of the country, was carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In a communiqué from the FMLN General Command broadcast by Radio Venceremos on the day Inés Duarte was released, the General Command assumed full responsibility for the operation and described the actions of the commando, including the killing of the bodyguards, as "impeccable". The abduction of Inés Duarte and Ana Cecilia Villeda was widely denounced as a violation of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
.
In 1986, Duarte's tax reform plans, bitterly opposed by ARENA, were judged unconstitutional. In August, he participated in the historic Esquipulas
Esquipulas
Esquipulas is a town in the Guatemalan departmentof Chiquimula on the border with Honduras. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name...
II agreement with other leaders to lay the groundwork for a firm and lasting peace in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, outlining the demobilization of the guerrilla groups in El Salvador, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. On October 5, 1987, dialogue with the FMLN began again in which it was the Third dialogue, and on October 28, Congress passed an amnesty law, just two days after Herbert Anaya
Herbert Anaya
Herbert Ernesto Anaya Sanabria was the president of the NGO Human Rights Commission of El Salvador . He was assassinated on October 26, 1987 close to his home. Herbert Anaya was the fourth leader of CDHES to be murdered or "disappeared" during the 1980s, none of these cases being satisfactorily...
, the president of the special United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Human Rights Commission for El Salvador, was assassinated. Anaya's assassination was widely interpreted as a sign of disapproval of the peace process.
Duarte was criticized by the Organization of American States and they demanded a deep investigation. As a result, Duarte offered a reward of $10,000 and asked the Commission of Interamerican Human Rights to investigate. The National police arrested a suspect Jorge Alberto Miranda Arevalo who confessed that he acted as a look out for the gang. He said he was a member of one of the guerrillas groups "the ERP." He was judged and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Duarte was increasingly seen as powerless not only between the two opposing forces of left and right but also in terms of the US anti-communist political influence in the region. With corruption scandals, an economy in tatters, rumors of a right-wing coup and a civil war that did not appear to have a solution, the government became ineffective, unstable and unable to stop the indiscriminate violence and brutality. In the March 20 1988 elections
Salvadoran legislative election, 1988
Legislative elections were held in El Salvador on 20 March 1988. The result was a victory for the Nationalist Republican Alliance, which won 31 of the 60 seats. Voter turnout was 59%.-Results:-Bibliography:...
, the PDC were soundly beaten by ARENA.
In June 1988, Duarte was rushed to a military hospital in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and given between 6 months and a year to live. Both the diagnosis and prognosis became public knowledge. In spite of having to stay in the United States for surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
, he refused to resign as President, and he was able to hand power over democratically to Alfredo Cristiani
Alfredo Cristiani
Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard, popularly known as Alfredo Cristiani was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994....
in June 1989. He died aged 64 in San Salvador on February 23, 1990. He was later confirmed to have been a CIA asset by US Ambassador to El Salvador Robert White
Robert White (ambassador)
Robert E. White served as U.S. ambassador under different administrations. He is currently president of the Center for International Policy....
. http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/RbtWhite.html
His Book "Duarte: My Story"
Ing. Jose N. Duarte wrote: "When the structures and values of Salvadoran society exemplify a democratic system, then the revolution I have worked for will have taken place. his is my dream" (Duarte, Duarte: My Story, G.P. Putnam Sons, 1986 ISBN 0-399-13202-3)
External links
- José Napoleón Duarte Fuentes: President of El Salavdor CNN Cold War Profile
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965912-2,00.html Article about Herbert Sanabria's murder in 1987.