Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

176 • FARABUNDO MARTÍ NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONTnegotiations, a U.S. helicopter carrying three U.S. military adviserswas shot down by FMLN forces on 2 January 1991. One crewmanwas critically injured and died later, but two survivors, LieutenantColonel David Pickett and crew chief PFC Earnest Dawson, weremurdered by the FMLN. This incident undermined international andregional moral support for the FMLN.The FMLN and Salvadoran government agreed on 1 January 1992to end the 12-year civil war in which at least 75,000 people hadperished. One agreement reached on 25 September 1991 allowed thearmed units of the FMLN to be incorporated under a separate commandinto the civilian Ministry of the Interior rather than under theMinistry of Defense, therefore allaying the guerrillas’ fears for theirpersonal security. While numerous acts of political violence haveoccurred since January 1992, many of these appear to be individualacts of revenge rather than part of any systematic terrorist campaign.Although the FMLN remained as an armed force until a staged incrementaldemilitarization was completed, it continues today essentiallyas a political grouping within El Salvador rather than as a guerrillaor terrorist force.By the mid-1990s many of the former leaders of the FMLN hadmade the transition to civilian politics. In April 1995 the FMLN heldthe second-largest delegation in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador,and its deputies had offices occupying the third floor of theNational Congress building, just one floor down from those of thedeputies of the ruling Republican National Alliance (ARENA) party.Joaquín Villalobos, the former ERP guerrilla leader, organized anothersocial democratic party independent of the FMLN grouping.During the 16 March 1997 elections, the FMLN quadrupled the numberof city halls under its control, from 13 to 54 out of 210 municipalgovernments, and nearly doubled its share of seats in the SalvadoranCongress. While ARENA kept 33.3 percent of the votes and retainedcontrol of the government, the FMLN won 32.1 percent, giving it 26deputies to ARENA’s 27 deputies in the 84-seat congress. In 1994 theFMLN won 21 seats to ARENA’s 39 seats but lost seven seats whenformer FMLN deputies split off to form another center-left party,which then won only two seats in the 1997 election. On 10 March1999, when President Bill Clinton addressed the Salvadoran Congress,he was warmly received both by the 26 members of the oppositionFMLN party and the 27 members of the ruling ARENA party.