|
El Salvador The Contadora Process
The Contadora negotiating process was initiated in January
1983 at a meeting of the foreign ministers of Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia, and Panama on Contadora Island in the Gulf of Panama.
The idea of a purely Latin American diplomatic effort to
stabilize the Central American situation and prevent either
military confrontation between neighboring states or direct
military intervention by the United States was attributed to
then-president of Colombia Belisario Betancur Cuartas. These
"Core Four" countries served as mediators in subsequent
negotiating sessions among the five Central American states.
By September 1983, the negotiations had arrived at a
consensus on twenty-one points or objectives. These included
democratization and internal reconciliation, an end to external
support for paramilitary forces, reductions in weaponry and
foreign military advisers, prohibition of foreign military bases,
and reactivation of regional economic mechanisms such as the
Central American Common Market. The twenty-one points were
incorporated into a draft treaty, or acta, one year later.
In September 1984, the Nicaraguan government took the other
four government delegations by surprise with its call for the
immediate signing of the acta as a final treaty. The
governments of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica
had been suspicious of Nicaraguan intentions throughout the
negotiating process. This precipitous rush to finalize the
process forced the four to reassess their positions and to
examine more closely a document that they previously might have
viewed as little more than a diplomatic exercise. The United
States government, which had been advising the Salvadorans
informally with regard to the negotiations, strongly recommended
against signing the acta, citing its lack of adequate
verification and enforcement provisions, its deferral of the
issues of reductions in arms and foreign advisers, the freezing
of United States military aid to El Salvador and Honduras, and
the vagueness of the sections on democratization and internal
reconciliation. Although Nicaragua's action had the effect of
embarrassing the governments of the other four states and
portraying Nicaragua before world public opinion as the only
serious negotiator in the Contadora process, it ultimately
succeeded in drawing the remaining four Central American states
into closer consultation. This collaboration led to the October
1984 Act of Tegucigalpa in which the governments of El Salvador,
Honduras, and Costa Rica emphasized their commitment to the
establishment of pluralistic democratic systems and their belief
that simultaneous and verifiable arms reductions were a necessary
component of this process. The Guatemalan government was
represented in the discussions in the Honduran capital but
declined to sign the resultant document.
Although improved verification procedures were negotiated,
the talks bogged down by mid-1985. The Nicaraguan delegates
rejected discussion of democratization and internal
reconciliation as an unwarranted intervention in their country's
internal affairs. The other four states maintained that these
provisions were necessary to ensure a lasting settlement. Another
major sticking point was the cessation of aid to insurgent
groups, particularly United States aid to the contras.
Although the United States government was not a party to the
Contadora negotiations, it was understood that the United States
would sign a separate protocol agreeing to the terms of a final
treaty in such areas as aid to insurgents, military aid and
assistance to Central American governments, and joint military
exercises in the region. The Nicaraguans demanded that any
Contadora treaty call for an immediate end to contra aid,
whereas the core four countries and the remaining Central
American states, with the exception of Mexico, downplayed the
importance of such a provision. In addition, the Nicaraguan
government raised objections to specific cuts in its military
force levels, citing the imperatives of the counterinsurgency
campaign and defense against a potential United States invasion.
In an effort to break this impasse, the governments of Argentina,
Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay announced in July 1985 that they were
joining the Contadora process as a "support group" in an effort
to resolve the remaining points of contention and achieve a
comprehensive agreement.
Despite the combined efforts of the core four and the
"support group," the Contadora process unofficially came to a
halt in June 1986, when the Central American countries still
could not resolve their differences sufficiently to permit the
signing of a final treaty draft. Later that month, the United
States Congress approved US$100 million in aid to the
contras in spite of numerous requests from the Contadora
group to refrain from such unilateral action. Although the core
four and support group countries vowed to continue their
diplomatic efforts and did convene negotiating sessions
subsequent to the unsuccessful June 6 meeting in Panama City, the
Contadora process was clearly moribund. The Central American
states, with the exception of Nicaragua, resolved to continue the
negotiating process on their own without the benefit of outside
mediation.
Data as of November 1988
|
