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The analysis of mediation and negotiation to end El Salvador's civil war is undertaken through the narrative of Salvador's peace negotiations from late 1989 through the implementation of the accords in December 1993. This time frame permits a comprehensive study of the different forms in which dialogue and negotiation took place. In this study, the internal efforts to make or break the peace became intertwined with external forces that had exacerbated the local conflict during the Cold War and later sought to end the fighting. External influence, particularly from the U.S government was always present, but the relative influence fluctuated according to the ditions and context of the struggle to make peace.
The 'ripe moment' came when the guerilla forces, coalesced within the Frente Faribundo de Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) and allied politically with the Frente Democratica Revolucionaria (FDR) failed to mobilize the popular forces in Salvador after a month long 'offensive.' At the same time, Salvador's armed forces (ESAF) failed to overwhelm them. With a 'hurting stalemate' in existence, the FMLN approached the UN and sought its good offices to begin political negotiations. President Alfredo Cristiani, recognizing the stalemate, expressed willingness to enter into a dialogue.
There followed twenty two months of negotiations in which the UN and four states friendly to the UN Secretary General, the U.S. government and to a lesser extent the Soviet Union and Cuba intervened in different ways to nudge the parties forward. The Secretary General and his Special Representative became the acceptable mediators who imposed deadlines, real and perceived. Spoilers, particularly from the extreme right, tried to destroy the process. The central issue was who could provide security guarantees such that the FMLN-FDR would demobilize, and who could guarantee to ESAF that the institution would not be destroyed absolutely.
The U.S. government, working through the UN became the guarantor of the peace. Nevertheless, relations between Washington and the UN were conflictive, reflecting the U.S. government efforts to use the UN for its purposes and the UN's determination to maintain an independent, multilateral role. A fragile peace existed among all mediators, as well as the protagonists themselves.