Essay Example on Central America: Peace and Democracy After 1992 Peace Accord

Democracy and peace have been witnessed in Central America since the peace accord was signed on January 16, 1992. The agreement ended a civil war that had existed for 12 years. The war had become worse and thus affecting so many citizens economically, socially, and emotionally during the 1980s. It became successful as a result of the focus that the policymakers had concerning the war. The case of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua joining in democratization was upheld at that time. In 1990 between the month of April and June, second Resistencia Nicaraguense was disarmed, and this led to the defeat of Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The conflict between the United States and the revolutionary government led to counterrevolution, which resulted in the death of 30,865 Nicaraguans (Ellerby, K., 2016, p. 10). As a way of solving the conflict, historic peace accords signed the Nicaraguan peace agreement at Chapultepec Castle between the guerrilla forces and the government of El Salvador and thus ending the twelve-year war.

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In the year 1996, the final American peace accord was finally completed. The guerrilla forces joined URNH, and President Alvaro Arzu of Guatemalan led his government in signing an agreement that resulted at the end of the conflict which had brought a lot of effects. The need to find a lasting solution between the U.S counterrevolutionary forces and the revolutionary government based in Nicaragua led to El Salvador peace agreement.

In regards to the Chapultepec peace accord, it came to exitance as a result of the concern that the people had due to the effects that the war had caused. The peace accord was signed on January 16, 1992. The outside observers and the United Nations mediators converge in Mexico City at Chapultepec hence archiving the peace accord agreement. The team further went ahead made peace in Bosnia. The government of Salvadoran with the leadership of president Cristiani and Frente Faribundo upon their arrival at home met euphoric citizens, and they welcomed the ceasefire as a sign of attained new peace (Luciak, I.A., 1999 p 13).

The presence of leaders who pushed for the negotiations resulted at the end of the war. A war which had left approximately 75,000 people dead while others had suffered severe brutality due to the political instability that had prevailed for a long period. After many bitter years of conflict and referring to one another as a terrorist, El Salvador peace agreement was finally enacted.

Women participation in peace negotiations always contributes to the durability and quality of war. This has been evident, especially in Central America and other countries that have encounter civil war. Though women participation as mediators and negotiators have not been fully appreciated. El Salvador is a good example where a successful peace process that included women became a success. Both the rebels and the government respected the disarmament and the ceasefire, thus leading to the achievement of lasting peace. If the attainment of peace has to be realized, then the interest of including the women in the process should be upheld as in the case of El Salvador.Also, women participated as ranking members during the peace table of El Salvadoran rebel movement.

Women played an essential role during the making of the peace accord in El Salvador through their contribution towards peaceful resolution. Firstly, they laid down the basis that promoted women's employment and the entire society. The idea that was raised by the women in the process of implementation of the peace was important since it helped them to enjoy the right to employment; hence, they could easily meet their cost of living. Also, women thought that through the creation of job opportunities to their colleagues and the society as drawn from their views in making of the peace accord in El Salvador, it enhances gender equality since all people would get access to their perspective jobs.

Moreover, women contributed towards the implementation of the peace accord in El Salvador since they acted as the negotiators. They discussed the issues concerning worrying parties leading to ease of their disagreement. They also showed a greater virtue of humanity through the act of mediation. They enhanced this by involving the conflicted parties and counseled them on the need for political stability. Women also raised a policy concerning National Civil Police that was to be applied to promote employment of National Public Security. Also, women were important in the implementation of the peace agreement in El Salvador because they represented their interests and need on how they should be handled (Ellerby, K., 2016, p. 23).

Although women portrayed their role during the Peace accord in El Salvador, the research showed that their work was considered unimportant. This is drawn from the fact that they were not given priority during their contribution towards the achievement of peace by the conflicted parties. Also, women were also neglected in the process of peacebuilding due to a strong belief which values men as the participants of peace as compared to women during any peace agreement due to gender discrimination. Also, according to beliefs based on gender, they advocated for male as the co-creators of peace since they had skills relating to the issue of the peace agreement as compared to women.

The idea of women being excluded from formal peace agreement through gender beliefs systems that were applied during the peace accord in El Salvador led to some negative impacts in relationship with the peacemaking process. As a result of the exclusion of women in the peace agreement, it negatively affected their representation hence their interests could not be heard for instance there was a wide gap on matters concerning sharing of powers between them and male gender since they were being neglected (Luciak, I.A., 1999, p 15). They were also left behind by not being involved in duties that were assigned to male; hence, their interests could not be easily addressed. Their exclusion from the settlement of peace agreement impacted them negatively such that their fundamental rights were largely ignored. This was demonstrated through violation of the right to protection against all forms of discrimination through enacting of laws which favor male gender.

Furthermore, there was uniqueness that was found in the land of El Salvador. The leaders who were in power at that time had adopted the policy of land allocation program where the land was being transferred from the state-owners to provide benefits to the small scale farmers and the peasants hence leaving aside the benefits that were allocated to women as stated in the peace accord. The other issues that were behind the secrecy of the land in El Salvador were the issue of people being granted with land titles. This impacted female gender negatively since they were not able to access farming because of insufficient capital that was only available to those who had land titles.

References

Ellerby, K., 2016. A seat at the table is not enough: understanding women's substantive representation in peace processes. Peacebuilding, 4(2), pp.136-150.

Luciak, I.A., 1999. Gender equality in the Salvadoran transition. Latin American Perspectives, 26(2), pp.43-67.