Seeking Peace in El Salvador : The Struggle to Reconstruct a Nation at the End of the Cold War

The resolution of the civil war in El Salvador coincided with the end of the Cold War. After two years of negotiations and a decade-long effort to implement the peace accords, this work examines how peace was made and whether it has endured.

The resolution of the civil war in El Salvador coincided with the end of the Cold War. It would prove to be a test of Soviet willingness to withdraw from support of revolutionary movements in Latin America and Washington''s ability to help reconstruct a nation - twenty percent of whose population had emigrated to the United States. Analysis of the decision making in Washington, as well as the outreach to Moscow, is undertaken in conjunction with examination of the internal pressures to end the fighting. To assist in this process, the Salvadoran government accepted the United Nations as a 3rd party mediator. This book examines the work of Alvaro de Soto, the establishment of a UN Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the peace keeping role of ONUSAL. Each played a critical role in nudging both the government and the FMLN towards peace. However, after two years of negotiations and a decade-long effort to implement the peace accords, this work questions how peace was made and whether it has endured. Are the current levels of criminal violence a consequence of that civil war?