Rebel Strategist to Join Salvador Talks : Negotiations to Start Wednesday; Guerrillas Call 11-Day Truce

MEXICO CITY —  El Salvador’s leftist guerrillas Monday said that their leading military strategist, Joaquin Villalobos, and another top commander will head the rebel delegation in peace talks this week with the new right-wing government of President Alfredo Cristiani.

The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front guerrillas also declared an 11-day cease-fire beginning Wednesday “to create the best environment possible” for the dialogue. They already have suspended the use of mines and curtailed sabotage.

The negotiations are to be held in Mexico City starting Wednesday and are expected to end by Friday, which is Independence Day in Central America.

Although the rebels held three rounds of talks with the previous administration of President Jose Napoleon Duarte, this is the first time the reputedly hard-line Villalobos will participate.

Man of ‘Many Myths’

“There are so many myths about the FMLN (rebels) being divided and Villalobos being the most difficult or the most enigmatic,” said Ana Guadalupe Martinez, a spokeswoman for the rebels.

“When we said we want a serious dialogue, we meant it. We want the (government) to feel we can reach agreements this time, and that we have sent people with the power to make decisions. We want to put an end to this legend that Villalobos is the man who doesn’t want a solution,” she said.

Villalobos, once an economics student at San Salvador’s National University, heads the People’s Revolutionary Army, the largest of five groups in the Farabundo Marti Front. Until launching a diplomatic tour of Latin America last fall, Villalobos had not left the mountains for six years.

Schafik Jorge Handal, the other commander to attend the talks, heads the Armed Liberation Forces, the group reportedly responsible for several recent assassinations, including that of an attorney general.

The rebels have been pursuing a two-track military and diplomatic strategy since last year, stepping up attacks in the capital, San Salvador, while pursuing dialogue with the government.

In an interview with The Times last November, Villalobos said, “It is always better to have war and a negotiating table than only to have war.”

In January, the rebels offered to participate in national presidential elections if the government would postpone the March 19 voting date. The following month, the rebels met in Oaxtepec, Mexico, with representatives of 13 opposition political parties, which then included Cristiani’s Nationalist Republican Alliance, and extended their proposal.

The rebels said they would drop their longstanding demand to integrate the guerrilla and government armies if the army were dramatically reduced in size, reformed and members were prosecuted for human rights abuses. The proposal was rejected, and Cristiani won the election.

Rebel spokeswoman Martinez said, however, that the rebels still stand by that position on the armed forces. And Villalobos’ presence on the rebel delegation appears aimed at gaining the attention of the army, which is not represented on the government team.

The government delegation will include two of Cristiani’s Cabinet members, Justice Minister Oscar Santamaria and the minister of the presidency, retired Col. Juan Antonio Martinez Varela.

Martinez Varela replaced Jose Antonio Rodriguez Porth, who was assassinated in June by unidentified gunmen. The rebels have denied that attack but privately take responsibility for killing right-wing Atty. Gen. Roberto Garcia Alvarado last April.

Handal’s group also publicly accepted responsibility for the killing of Francisco Peccorini, a businessman and hard-line right-winger. The rebels reportedly were in disagreement over those killings.

In San Salvador on Monday, the army chief of staff, Col. Rene Emilio Ponce, minimized the presence of Villalobos, saying, “This a political strategy of the FMLN to gain the initiative and international recognition.”

Ponce said he has not given orders for an army cease-fire to respond to the rebels’ move. “Armed forces operations will continue,” he said.