DUARTE, JOS NAPOLEON

born Nov. 23, 1925, San Salvador, El Salvador died Feb. 23, 1990, San Salvador president of El Salvador (198489), who unsuccessfully tried to end poverty and halt the prolonged civil war in his nation. Duarte studied civil engineering at Notre Dame University in the United States (B.S., 1948). In 1960 he was a founder of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party. While he was mayor of San Salvador (196470) his administration was instrumental in building new schools and providing such basic services as street lighting, sewerage systems, and trash collection. He ran for president in the 1972 election; when his election seemed likely the military halted the election and declared Colonel Arturo Molina the winner. Following a radio broadcast supporting a coup, Duarte was arrested by the army, beaten, and sent into exile for over seven years. Duarte returned in 1980, amid civil war, and became president of a military-civilian junta; he could not halt the brutal repression by the army and police during his tenure and was forced to resign in 1982. Elected president in 1984, he attempted to stabilize the economy and end the war, helped by massive aid from the United States. But he failed in his attempts to distribute major landholdings to the peasants and to end death-squad activity; his negotiations with the rebels were also failures. He served as president until 1989, the year after he was diagnosed with cancer.