"We Will Win the Fight"

Before the interview began, he whisked away the machine Before the interview began, he whisked away the machine guns that were lying on the table in his party's headquarters in San Salvador. Roberto d'Aubuisson, the candidate of the far right, is determined these days to soften his image as a gunman. He rose in Salvadoran society by attending his country's military academy, a traditional route to the top. After the 1979 coup that removed General Carlos Humberto Romero and installed a reformist junta, D'Aubuisson was purged from the army by the new government. Excerpts from D'Aubuisson's session with TIME Mexico City Bureau Chief James Willwerth and TIME's Timothy Loughran:

On the reasons for his party's sudden success. The people of El Salvador do not want the old schemes, much less the scheme of "communitarianism" [a reference to the philosophy of the Christian Democrats' Duarte, whom right-wing opponents falsely claim is a Marxist]. We offer a very simple human thing: peace and work. We seek a representative democracy, where the power comes from the people, and a free market society. We believe in and respect human rights. We are to tally opposed to Castro terrorism.

On the source of his country's problems. This is actually an invasion of international Communism. El Salvador is not the principal objective. The objective is Central America and the Caribbean basin, and eventually the U.S. By 1969 the Communists had established violent groups to damage the economy in our region. The most violent attacks--kidnapings, terrorism--had great backing from the mistaken political thought of Mr. Jimmy Carter [a reference to Carter's tolerance for the Sandinista-led revolution in Nicaragua]. That is why Nicaragua is a pro-Soviet government today. Members of the U.S. Department of State, Venezuela, today. Members of the U.S. Department of State, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico helped. But Cuba ended up being the leader. The same scheme was tried on us, but thank God we were able to react in time.

On his plans if his party gains power. We will win the military fight. First we will adopt a revolutionary constitution with articles that will give us the force of law to deal with the state of crisis that we are living in now. Right now we are fighting blindfolded, and with treason in certain government spheres. Once we have good military intelligence and a government that does not give cover to subversives, we can go ahead.

On his views of the Christian Democrats. One thing is certain: leaders of the Christian Democrats have had ties with the Revolutionary Democratic Front [F.D.R.] and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front [F.M.L.N.] [the political and military arms of the guerrilla movement]. I will provide proof at the beginning of next week. But we will invite those Christian Democrats who have the capacity to participate in a government of national conciliation to join us.

On charges that he has been associated with death squads, was involved in the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero and is the front man for El Salvador's powerful oligarchy. It was to be expected that I would be attacked with these false words because we were the first to recognize what was coming over our country. We interrupted the plans they [the "subversives"] had. They focused their attention on us. But have they presented proof of their charges?

I am a Salvadoran born into the middle class. The guerrillas have blocked all possibilities for development. The economy is in a kind of chaos we have never experienced before. We love our country. We are not defending the interests of any particular sector.

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