RFMA: FIGHTING KNIVES MEETS WITH THE FMLN
rf...@union3.su.swin.edu.au
* REVISTA FARABUNDO MARTI *
* (Australian Edition) *
* Number 6, December 6, 1993 *
**************************************************************
Notice: The last 1993 editions of Revista Farabundo Marti will be
published on December 13 and 20 and then we're taking
Christmas and New Year's holidays and will be back on January
15, 1994 with edition 9.
FIGHTING KNIVES (R) MEETS WITH THE FMLN
By Greg Walker
Fighting Knives (R) (Oregon, USA), November 1993
Earlier this year, FIGHTING KNIVES (R) explored the reality of combat for
U.S. military personnel who fought in Central America's longest civil war
(See "America's Forgotten Warriors", July 1993).
In June, FIGHTING KNIVES (R) Executive Editor met with one of the Farabundo
Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) most senior-battlefield commanders
in San Francisco. It was a historic reunion, fuelled by our mutual desire
to see the war truly brought to an end.
For 12 years Gilberto Osorio fought as a guerrilla in El Salvador.
Salvadoran by birth, yet holding dual citizenship, Osorio grew up in the
United States where he served in the Air Force from 1966-1970. Honourably
discharged, Gilberto attended San Francisco State College where he majored
in ethnic studies. By 1980, with the war in El Salvador beginning to
rage, he elected to return to his homeland and to fight alongside the
guerrillas of the FMLN.
After two years as a un urban fighter, Osorio arranged to have himself
transferred from the FPL (one of the five major guerrilla military
commands) to the PRTC, operating in the department of San Vicente. The PRTC
would soon become known as the most competent of the guerrilla armies, as
well as the most daring and violent: in 1984 it was guerrillas from the
PRTC who attacked a table of US Marines in San Salvador, killing four in a
hail of machine-gun fire. As a result of this attack--known about by US
intelligence sources as early as two weeks before the early evening
assault--the United States government targeted the PRTC in retaliation. For
the next seven years Gilberto Osorio and his comrades fought a vicious war
against the Salvadoran army and the Salvadoran's Green Beret advisers.
That Osorio, better known by his nom de guerre as "Gerardo Zelaya",
survived the onslaught is a remarkable accomplishment. As the PRTC's Chief
of Operations, Gilberto planned and executed the guerrillas' battle plans.
Today, he remains a senior adviser to the FMLN, working out of his office
at the Mission Cultural Centre in San Francisco, California.
After two months of careful talks, the stage was set for Osorio and me to
meet. As national coordinator for the Veterans of Special Operations (VSO)
it would be the first time an American military adviser met with such a
senior FMLN officer outside of the peace agreement signed in Chapultepec,
Mexico in February 1992.
The VSO would return a captured FMLN battle flag taken in 1984 to the PRTC,
and extending the open hand of peace to the guerrilla veterans of that war.
In return, Osorio would open an avenue of understanding and healing between
the American advisers he'd fought against, while acknowledging their impact
upon the ground war against the FMLN.
On Friday, June 25, we met formally with 30 invited guests at the Centro
Cultural de la Mision, in San Francisco. All those present were either
former guerrillas, or supporters of the movement. A smattering of selected
local media personalities readied their questions as Gilberto and I took
our places. Set to last an hour, the event lasted three.
Emotionally, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of both our
lives. With the presentation of the flag to Osorio, the entire audience
burst forth with applause, reminding me that this was going to be one tough
audience, to say the least. afterward, a number of Salvadorans approached
the two of us to express their gratitude at such a step taken toward
reconciliation, which I found particularly moving.
The next day Osorio and I spent the afternoon aboard a friend's sailboat.
As we took advantage of a simmering day in the Bay Area and a strong wind,
we chatted about the past and the future.
At one point we discovered each other's concern over our safety, as old
habits and belief systems die hard. For years our personal survival had
depended upon seeing the other as a potential assassin. With the war over
just little more than a year, and with feelings within both communities
still divided as to our own meeting, the professional's sense of self-
preservation had run high.
Today the VSO and the FMLN are discussing how we might help those
government/guerrilla veterans who were maimed during the war years. Hopes
for a democratic El Salvador are high, with national elections held in
March. Peace is at hand, and in favour of the people as opposed to any one
political ideal or party.
As for the warriors of both sides, a path of understanding and mutual
respect was opened on a hot summer day in San Francisco.
* In a gesture of respect and friendship, FIGHTING KNIVES (R) presented
former FMLN-PRTC Chief of Operations Gilberto Osorio with a Spyderco/Wayne
Goddard Folder from my personal collection.
* Offering a united front, both Osorio and I addressed an invited audience
of former FMLN guerrillas and supporters. The potential for a physical
attack on either of both of us was considered, and ten dismissed in favour
of overcoming the hatred war causes among men.
* The Veterans of Special Operations were pleased to return this captured
FMLN battle flag to those who fought as guerrillas in El Salvador. Accepted
by the former Chief of Operations for the PRTC, the flag will be displayed
at the FMLN's war museum in Morazan, El Salvador.
* Once enemies who would have killed the other on sight, Gilberto Osorio
and I spent the day after our historic meeting sailing. "We must allow the
healing process to begin," Osorio told me. As combat veterans, our war with
each other ended with an open hand and a step of faith.