A peace built on forgetting demobilised combatants in post-war El Salvador

The negotiated end of the civil war in El Salvador was built around a double process of demilitarisation and democratisation. It put an end to the armed conflict while giving the guerrillas the chance to become a political party and participate in the elections. The exemplary nature of this process, from the military and institutional points of view, has however hampered the demobilisation of former combatants, soldiers, and guerrillas. Individual rehabilitation programmes, plagued by delays and poor implementation, have not allowed the former combatants to find a place in post-war society. These difficulties have been exacerbated by the memories of the years of conflict maintained by political actors of a very strong ideological opposition, marginalising the image of those in the ranks who actually fought. The mobilisation of former soldiers and guerrillas are therefore either controlled by political parties or repressed by the state. In post war El Salvador, which suffers from very high levels of violence linked to delinquency, it is particularly difficult for the role and actions of former combatants to be valued positively. It is equally difficult for them to develop a collective identity linked to their participation in the armed conflict

Criminology · Demobilization · Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Disarmament · Ideology · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Conflict, Peace, and Violence in Colombia · Law · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Politics and Society in Latin America

• The Debts of War

  Open Access•Ralph Sprenkels•Conflict and Society•2019

  Incluir item

• Why do Armed Groups Return to War after Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration? Introducing the DDR-40 Dataset (1980–2020)

  Open Access•Samaneh Sharif•Journal of Conflict Resolution•2026

  Incluir item

• Beyond Reintegration

  Open Access•Nikkie Wiegink, Ralph Sprenkels•Development and Change•2022

  Incluir item

• Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador

  Open Access•Elisabeth Jean Wood•Insurgent Collective Action and…•2003

  Incluir item

• De la lutte armée à la lutte électorale, itinéraires divergents d'une trajectoire insolite. Une comparaison à partir des cas centraméricains et colombien

  David Garibay•Revue internationale de politique…•2005

  Incluir item

• From Competition to Cooperation

  Open Access•L Kowalchuk•European Review of Latin American…•2003

  Incluir item

• Obstacles to Peacebuilding

  Alvaro De Soto, Graciana Del Castillo•Foreign Policy•1994

  Incluir item

• Low-Intensity Warfare, High-Intensity Death

  Mitchell A Seligson, Vincent Mcelhinny et al.•Canadian Journal of Latin…•1996

  Incluir item

• Grassroots Development in Conflict Zones of Northeastern El Salvador

  Open Access•Leigh Binford•Latin American Perspectives•1997

  Incluir item

• El Salvador's Negotiated Revolution

  Terry Lynn Karl•Foreign Affairs•1992

  Incluir item

• Laying the Groundwork

  Open Access•Michael W Foley•Journal of Interamerican Studies…•1996

  Incluir item

• The Violence of Moral Binaries

  Open Access•P Bourgois•Ethnography•2002

  Incluir item

• Violence in El Salvador

  Open Access•Arthur Leigh Binford, Leigh Binford•Ethnography•2002

  Incluir item