ONUSAL and the office of the Secretary-General began appealing to governments and international/regional organizations to put up funds to carry out land transfers, since the Government of El Salvador was to pay land-owners for lands to be transferred to peasant farmers but did not have nearly the amount of money required to make all the purchases.
Japan pledged $4.5 million for emergency aid, including about $750,000 for refugee relief, and economic restructuring. Canada pledged up to $5 million for poverty alleviation, human rights promotion and democratization. The United States pledged to redirect some of its ongoing military aid to the Government of El Salvador toward peaceful programs. The US would put up $250 million over two years to support the peace process. In total, 18 countries and 12 NGOs promised to contribute $800 million for post-conflict reconstruction.
No further developments observed.
Progresses were made in terms of redistributing lands and agriculture equipment. El Salvador adopted the US Dollar as its official currency to reduce borrowing costs. Two earthquakes struck in 2001, setting economic development back again.
No developments observed this year.
No developments observed this year.
Outstanding issues preventing the completion of the programs for land transfer and human settlement transfer were not resolved as of the conclusion of official UN observation on 30 June 1998.
Hurricane Mitch devastated the whole region, killing thousands and setting development back by twenty years. A flurry of monetary aid, loans and debt forgiveness came in from international donors.
Nearing the completion of the land transfer program, almost 35,000 persons had received titles to a total of over 140,000 manzanas (235,200 acres) of land. Hundreds of persons had not received land titles, however, and the government was still moving rather slowly to resolve the logistical issues preventing the completion of the program.
After a number of persons left the program, the total number of potential beneficiaries of land reform fell to 36,550. By 26 March 1996, 32,210 of them had received titles, and about half of those were recorded in the land registry. The program faced an impasse when land-for-sale became scarce and the human settlement relocations left some persons in unsustainable situations.
By November 1996, nearly 99% of potential beneficiaries had received titles, and 87% of those had filed their deeds in the national registry.
The forward momentum in land reform programs created at the end of 1994 was curbed in January 1995, due in large part to personnel turnover in the Lands Bank. As of March 1995, approximately 45% of former combatants eligible for land-transfers had in fact received legal ownership of land. The Government was operating at a pace far too slow to meet the 30 April 1995 deadline for completion of the Acceleration Plan. The delays in land transfer programs, and especially delays in dealing with the relocation of human settlements, was becoming an increasing source of contention. Absent decisive involvement of the Government, lawful landowners and de facto landholders were repeatedly pitted against one another, and confrontations between them threatened to have a broad impact on the Peace Agreement. Problems persisted into late 1995. The Government stepped up efforts to get land titles to potential beneficiaries, and indeed the proportion rose to 75% in September, but then it was discovered that only 25% of these had filed with the land registry—a step which was necessary for the title holders to sell the land and complete the transfer process.
The Acceleration Plan brought progress in the land transfer program, but not nearly at the rate it promised and not in the proportions promised to the FMLN beneficiaries in the 13 October 1993 agreement. On 21 April 1994, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill to reform the Labor Code to reflect reforms agreed upon in previous meetings of the Forum for Economic and Social Consultation, but the labor sector criticized the bill. The Government submitted a new acceleration plan on 18 August 1994, in which it pledged to strengthen the administrative infrastructure necessary to facilitate land transfers to FMLN ex-combatants. The program was stalled by funding shortfalls, however. At the two-year mark after the program began, only one-third of potential beneficiaries had actually received land. New progressive strides were made in November and December 1994, including improved administrative measures, shifting of responsibilities to the regional level, and increased personnel to measure land and communicate with potential beneficiaries.
