ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the peace accords in El Salvador, telling the story of civil society’s impact on an accord that many held up around the world as a negotiated revolution and a symbol of the peace dividend promised by the end of the Cold War. With no serious violations of the ceasefire, combatants were demobilized, reconstruction in the areas most affected by the conflict had begun, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) became a political party and democratic elections were held just 2 years later. Yet, 24 later, El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world in terms of homicides per capita. This chapter explores the direct and indirect links of the war and peace process to the current violence by focusing on the contributions of civil society to peace during the armed conflict, through the dialogue and negotiations, and into the post-war period to explore the legacies and limits of their actions. The author concludes that civil society’s effectiveness in pushing for dialogue and ending the violence was due to several factors: (1) specialization of human rights; (2) local knowledge and expertise in the form of contact with victims and affected communities; (3) an international solidarity network that created effective channels for advocacy; (4) public opinion polls that provided credibility and information and was a positive force in the media; (5) the ability of civil society to connect to leaders from both sides of the conflict; and (6) internal cohesion and a common agenda among the popular sector and churches. In the case of El Salvador, civil society made important contributions in these areas. However, polarization among civil society actors created a narrow lens that failed to see the connections of the current social violence to the war and the peace process.
