A Setback for Moderation

By Thomas A. Sancton

The right takes control of the new constituent assembly

Rhythmic shouts of "D'Aubuisson! D'Aubuisson!" erupted from the gallery as the boyish-looking figure strode toward the dais of San Salvador's wood-and marble-paneled Blue Chamber in the Legislative Palace. Wearing a three-piece suit, he glanced down at his ten-page handwritten text and declared, "Now that we are starting on the road toward representative democracy, we will leave in the past all desires for revenge. We will use all our strength to guarantee human rights, and we will gain, step by step, that precious tranquillity that we have lost."

With those words, Roberto d'Aubuisson, 38, the charismatic leader of El Salvador's right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), tried to allay the fears generated by his designation as President of El Salvador's new constituent assembly. D'Aubuisson, who was once described by former U.S. Ambassador Robert White as a "pathological killer," had just assumed a key position in a country racked by left-wing insurgency and right-wing terror that have left some 30,000 people dead since October 1979. D'Aubuisson's election was an apparent defeat not only for outgoing junta President Jose Napoleon Duarte's Christian Democrats, who had won a 40% plurality in the March 28 ballot, but for the Reagan Administration, which had made no secret of its preference for the moderate Christian Democrats. The constituent assembly will name a provisional government to replace Duarte's junta, write a new constitution and prepare for elections.

In the political horse trading that followed the elections, the Christian Democrats were outflanked by a rightist coalition that included D'Aubuisson's ARENA and the National Conciliation Party (P.C.N.). Controlling at least 34 of the assembly's 60 seats, the alliance was in a position to freeze out Duarte's party. But the U.S. mounted a strong lobbying effort to ensure the Christian Democrats at least a share of power. The Reagan Administration's principal argument was that if the moderates were left out of the government, the U.S. Congress would not support continued military aid to help the government defeat the leftist guerrillas who are trying to seize power.

Washington's diplomatic campaign reached a crescendo early last week with the arrival in San Salvador of Lieut. General Vernon Walters, U.S. ambassador-at-large, and John Carbaugh, an aide to conservative Senator Jesse Helms. Meeting with the leaders of El Salvador's main political parties, Walters and Carbaugh discussed a letter from Secretary of State Alexander Haig that bluntly reiterated three conditions for continued U.S. support: 1) the formation of a government of national unity that would give the Christian Democrats power in proportion to their performance at the polls; 2) continued progress in land, economic and human rights reforms; and 3) presidential elections by 1983.

Walters presented the same case to the military leaders, stressing that a failure to include moderate elements in the new government could lead to a cutoff of U.S. military aid. Apparently impressed, the generals reportedly put pressure on the politicians to elect Alvaro Alfredo Magana, 56, a moderate banker with close ties to the army, President of the provisional government that is expected to be named this week.

By the time the assembly met for its first full working session, the capital was abuzz with rumors that the Christian Democrats and part of the P.C.N. had agreed to name Magana provisional President. The right, it was assumed, would also agree to give the Christian Democrats some role in the assembly leadership. But when headlines proclaiming Magana's imminent election appeared in the afternoon paper, D'Aubuisson reportedly became furious and rearranged the list of candidates for the nine-man assembly directorate to exclude all Christian Democrats. When the vote took place, D'Aubuisson and his fellow rightists easily swept all the assembly posts. Said ARENA Leader Mario Redaelli defiantly: "We did this today to show the United States embassy that they are not going to tell us what to do."

Despite ARENA'S opposition, Magana may still be elected provisional President. In any event, the choice could have more symbolic than real meaning. The provisional President may have little power to resist the assembly, which is expected to have the authority to approve all legislation as well as the new constitution. By controlling the assembly, D'Aubuisson might in effect end up running the country.

D'Aubuisson's success does not bode well for the improvement of human rights in El Salvador. He has often been accused of being involved with rightist death squads, and he campaigned on a promise to eradicate the leftists. Though he has lately tried to moderate his image, some Salvadorans seem to be taking his tough talk at face value. Workers who regularly count the bodies dumped along the roadsides report that political murders have increased some 20% since the elections. And in the tiny mud-hut hamlet of Barrios last week, survivors of an alleged Sunday-morning massacre told reporters that 48 fellow villagers, more than half of them less than twelve years old, had been killed by Salvadoran soldiers in search of guerrillas .

--By Thomas A. Sancton. Reported by Timothy Loughran/San Salvador and Johanna McGeary /Washington

With reporting by Timothy Laughran, Johanna McGeary

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