Judging Duarte

Ten months is a short time to judge a government and not every election should be regarded as a vote of confidence. All the same, [in El Salvador] these 10 months have seen some successes. The level of death squad violence has fallen. The army has got a better grip on itself and has had greater success in controlling guerrilla activity. The guerrillas have less international support than ever and their divisions are becoming more apparent. These improvements are a matter of degree, and any critic can point out that there is much that President Duarte has failed to achieve. But so far he should be given credit for having done rather better than could reasonably have been expected.