(17 Mar 1995) Spanish/Nat
For the first time since the end of a bloody civil war, the Armed Forces are back on the streets in El Salvador.
The official explanation is soldiers are helping police combat a growing crime wave.
But after years of witnessing abuses by the military, many in El Salvador are sceptical.
This scene could have taken place at the beginning of the 80s, the height of the dirty war in El Salvador.
But this is El Salvador in the mid-1990's.
Since the end of more than a decade of bloody civil war, there
has been a dramatic rise in crimes and killings by heavily armed
gangs. These gangs are mostly made up of former combatants
from both sides - the armed forces and the rebels.
Bodies have again begun to appear in gutters and the roadside. The official explanation is that these are victims of the gangs.
In order to combat rising crime, the government has sent the armed forces back on patrol to lend logistical support to the National
Police.
SOUNDBITE: At this point, the Armed Forces have to be used to combat crime, but it should be deployed only under strict conditions and guidelines. The patrols should specifically be in the countryside where there is a serious problem with security. But, the patrols must take place under the strict supervision of the National Police, something that the government does not want to consent to.
SUPERCAPTION FMLN MEMBER RUBEN ZAMORRA
One of the elements of the U-N brokered peace plan that ended 12 years of civil war was a new National Civilian Police. This police force would be separate from the Army and clean of the legacy
of human rights abuses and torture that marked the former security
forces.
The Salvadoran government stresses that the use of the Army
is just logistical.
SOUNDBITE: We understand that we do not have the numbers to control the situation that our country is living right now. In light
of this, it would be unsound not to utilize the combined force (of the Army and the National Police) to protect the Salvadoran people.
SUPERCAPTION NATIONAL POLICE HEAD RODRIGO AVILA
The presence of the Army makes many in urban areas and
the countryside very uncomfortable.
At least 70-thousand people, mostly civilian, were killed during the war.
Many of the war's victims never were found, until now. Mass graves are being unearthed in areas that saw much of the fighting.
The most recent was in Jocuatique, in Morazan province. At last count, at least 40 bodies were unearthed.
SOUNDBITE: I don't remember. I don't know. I really can not recall
because its been so long.
SUPERCAPTION RELATIVE OF DISAPPEARED
The townspeople come to the site of the exhumation in towns
such as Jocuatique, in the heart of rebel territory, hoping to find the remains of their relatives and give them proper burial.
SOUNDBITE: When they know the exact location of the exhumation
and they believe that maybe they will find their family members, they flock to the site.
SUPERCAPTION JOCUATIQUE JUDGE JOSE ANGEL POSADA
Still the townspeople hope to find what's left of their loved ones. They also hope that what happened only three years ago will never happen again.
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