MSG010G/01E EL SALVADOR: Farmers, Former Combatants March to Demand Land
SAN SALVADOR, Dic 14 (IPS) - More than 1,000 Salvadoran farmers and former combatants are marching to the capital to demand the land grants promised them in the peace accords that ended the nation's 12-year civil war in January 1992.
Supporters and members of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) began their march Monday more than 50 kilometres from San Salvador along a main highway in the northern province of Chalatenango.
Last week, Land Transfer Programme coordinator Ever Amaya acknowledged that only one fourth of the 47,000 farmers and former government and FMLN combatants entitled to land had received it.
The protesters were escorted by members of the National Civil Police (PNC), which was formed under the peace accords to replace the militarised National Police.
According to participants, the group hopes to meet with government representatives and members of Parliament on Wednesday in order to discuss a more effective land grant system.
Maria Serrano, a rural leader from Chalatenango, said the number of protesters would increase to 5,000 on Wednesday, as former guerrillas and civilians from departments throughought the country would join the group.
Serrano, who was known as "Maria Chichilco" during the war, said the committed land would only be granted if "pressure" is placed on those responsible.
Analysts agree that unequal land distribution was one of the major causes of the civil war, which began in 1980 and ended in January 1992, with a U.N.-brokered peace agreement between the FMLN and the government of then-President Alfredo Cristiani.
Nearly three years later, only 11,000 former combatants and farmers who live in former war zones have been able to legalise their land claims.
The peace accord timetable calls for the land transfer to [Bconclude by Apr. 30, 1995, when the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador will end its operations.
Jesuit priest Jon Cortina, who worked in combat zones in Chalatenango, said the situation was unlikely to be resolved by then, as "the process is slow - they are legalising only three to five claims each week."
The government of current President Armando Calderon Sol says that the land transfer project is slow due to bureaucratic issues and the FMLN's delay in providing lists of beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the former guerrilla group - now a political party - counters that the government lacks the political will to carry out the land transfers.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service