University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 When Do Comprehensive Peacekeeping Operations Succeed? The Case Of The Un Observer Mission In El Salvador (onusal) And The Un Verification Mission In Guatemala (minugua) Sabrina Stein University of Central Florida Part of the International Relations Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Stein, Sabrina, "When Do Comprehensive Peacekeeping Operations Succeed? The Case Of The Un Observer Mission In El Salvador (onusal) And The Un Verification Mission In Guatemala (minugua)" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2329. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2329 WHEN DO COMPREHENSIVE PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS SUCCEED? THE CASES OF THE UN OBSERVER MISSION IN EL SALVADOR (ONUSAL) AND THE UN VERIFICATION MISSION IN GUATEMALA (MINUGUA) by SABRINA STEIN B.A. University of Central Florida, 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2012 ABSTRACT United Nations (UN) Charter Article 42 authorizes the Security Council to take military action by air, sea or land if non-armed solutions fail to restore international peace and Article 43 states that UN members will keep troops and equipment available for the use of the Security Council. However, Article 43 never went into effect, leaving the UN without an alternative to diplomatic solutions. Canada’s UN representative, Lester Pearson Bowles, proposed instituting peacekeeping missions to address this handicap and Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold established a peacekeeping framework, which included: agreement from the Security Council, agreement by parties involved, readiness of UN members to support mission, and the existence of a peace agreement. However, the UN’s peacekeeping framework is often violated to address complex threats to international peace. This thesis will present an analysis of the UN peacekeeping framework and the UN Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) and the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) to establish how the conflict in El Salvador and Guatemala determined ONUSAL’s and MINUGUA’s missions and how these deviate from the UN peacekeeping framework. The purpose of this study is to establish specific modifications that must be made to the classic UN peacekeeping framework based on conflict specifics to prevent UN peacekeeping failures. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my family and friends, near and far, for their endless support and encouragement. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2 – UNITED NATIONS OBSERVER MISSION IN EL SALVADOR (ONUSAL) 11 Historical Background ...................................................................................................... 11 The UN and Peace Negotiations ....................................................................................... 14 The United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) .................................. 20 ONUSAL’s Military Division ................................................................................... 21 ONUSAL’s Police Division ...................................................................................... 24 ONUSAL’s Electoral Division .................................................................................. 25 ONUSAL’s Human Rights Division ......................................................................... 27 Commission on the Truth for El Salvador ........................................................................ 28 The Role of Third Parties .................................................................................................. 32 The United States....................................................................................................... 33 The Communist Bloc ................................................................................................. 34 The Contadora Group ................................................................................................ 35 The Friends of the UN Secretary General ................................................................. 36 Post ONUSAL El Salvador ............................................................................................... 36 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 44 iv CHAPTER 3 – UNITED NATIONS VERIFICATION MISSION IN gUATEMALA (MINUGUA)................................................................................................................................. 47 Historical Background ...................................................................................................... 47 The UN and Peace Negotiations ....................................................................................... 50 The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) ........................... 53 MINUGUA’s Verification Division .......................................................................... 55 MINUGUA’s Good Offices Division ........................................................................ 58 MINUGUA’s Technical Assistance Division ........................................................... 58 MINUGUA’s Public Information Division ............................................................... 59 Commission for Historical Clarification ........................................................................... 61 Role of Third Parties ......................................................................................................... 63 The United States....................................................................................................... 63 The Communist Bloc ................................................................................................. 65 Assembly of Civil Society ......................................................................................... 66 Friends of the UN Secretary General ........................................................................ 66 Post MINUGUA Guatemala ............................................................................................. 67 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 73 CHAPTER 4 – CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 75 Differences between the Salvadoran and the Guatemalan Conflicts ................................ 75 v Differences between the Salvadoran and the Guatemalan peace negotiations ................. 77 Differences between ONUSAL and MINUGUA ............................................................. 80 Differences between the El Salvador and the Guatemala Truth Commissions ................ 84 Differences in the role of third parties in El Salvador and Guatemala ............................. 86 Differences in post ONUSAL El Salvador and post MINUGUA Guatemala .................. 88 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 93 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Political Rights in El Salvador ...................................................................................... 39 Figure 2: Civil Liberties in El Salvador ........................................................................................ 39 Figure 3: GNI per Capita in El Salvador ...................................................................................... 42 Figure 4: Human Development Index in El Salvador ................................................................... 43 Figure 5: Political Rights in Guatemala ........................................................................................ 70 Figure 6: Civil Liberties in Guatemala ......................................................................................... 70 Figure 7: GNI per Capita in Guatemala ........................................................................................ 72 Figure 8: Human Development Index in Guatemala .................................................................... 72 vii CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION The United Nations came to life following the devastation of World War I and World War II. To prevent the international community from ever falling into the violence and destruction witnessed during these two wars, the international community came together to establish an organization that would promote cooperation and diplomacy among states. The United Nations Charter came into existence in the San Francisco conference of 1945 under ideals of equality for all states, the universality of human rights, development, and the maintenance of peace and security. Chapter I of the United Nations