Chapultepec Peace Accords

In the Castle of Chapultepec located in the capital of Mexico, a peace agreement was signed in 1992 between the army of El Salvador and a Marxist-oriented guerrilla group, the FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la National Release). Both parties had been the main actors in a armed conflict which started in 1980 and ended in 1992. Apart from these two military forces, far-right armed groups, the well-known Death Squads, also intervened.

Causes and consequences of the civil war

The civil war in El Salvador had two main causes: deep social inequalities and land ownership in the hands of an oligarchy. At the international level, El Salvador had a strategic value for Soviet and American interests.

The war in the Central American country had effects on the whole of society. It is estimated that 75,000 people died (the vast majority belonging to the population civilian), antipersonnel mines left thousands of injuries and there was a massive displacement of the rural population

towards the capital. To appease the weather from conflict the army and the guerrillas accepted the UN measurement:

Main contents of the Chapultepec Peace Accords

Two years before its final signature, the representatives of the Salvadoran government and the guerrillas agreed to respect the human rights, because for years all kinds of atrocities had been committed (selective killings, disappearances, kidnappings ..).

The signing of the peace had to overcome an important obstacle: the problem of land distribution (this initial obstacle was overcome by introducing the Constitution a series of changes related to the forms of agrarian property).

The signatories of the peace agreement were the representatives of the conservative party "Alianza Republicana Nacionalista" and the top leaders of the FMLN

Among the main agreements reached, the following stand out: the creation of a national civilian police, the opening of an organism that would watch over the fulfillment of human rights and the formation of a Supreme Court of Justice.

From the social and economic sphere, a new redistribution of the lands of culture. Likewise, programs were promoted so that the guerrillas could reintegrate into the civil society.

Finally, two years after the Chapultepec Peace Accords, the FMLN was integrated into life politics Salvadoran. Since then this formation has governed the nation in various legislatures. Despite national reconciliation, 25 years after the end of the conflict, financial compensation for the thousands of people affected is still pending, as well as reparation for the victims.

Photo: Fotolia - Sangoiri

Issues in the Chapultepec Peace Accords