Definiciones estratégicas de la política exterior de México en El Salvador (1979-1992)

This essay outlines the extent to which Mexican backing of the peace process in El Salvador constituted one of the most important moments in Mexican 20th Century foreign policy. The onset of crisis across countries of the Central American isthmus in the late seventies compelled Mexico to opt for an active diplomacy that refused to see the rise of guerrilla forces as a threat to continental security. Instead, Mexico deemed that the emergence of these movements was inevitable and it even drew comparisons with its own Mexican Revolution. In the case of El Salvador, 1981 saw the issuance of the “Franco-Mexican Declaration”, which brought forth a phase of strong diplomatic efforts in the country and recognized the coalition formed by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front and the Democratic Revolutionary Front as a “representative political force”. Benítez Manaut analyzes the foundation of the Contadora Group (1983-1986), its crisis and increase in military activity and looks at how, from 1990 onwards, the stagnation of the situation on the ground led to the UN returning to the case of El Salvador, this time in the context of the fall of the Berlin Wall. By way of his analysis, the author concludes that the active role played by Mexico in this process was evidenced by the UN’s recognition of Mexico at the signing of the Peace Accords at Chapultepec Castle in January 1992.