WASHINGTON -- The State Department announced Monday that Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., will head the U.S. delegation to observe the national elections in El Salvador.
Leftist guerrillas battling the ruling junta are boycotting the elections, scheduled for March 28.
The Organization of American States will also send a delegation, but the European Community has decided against sending one.
According to the State Department announcement, the U.S. delegation to be headed by Sen. Kassebaum will include: Rep Robert Livingston, R-La.; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Everett Briggs; Theodore Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame University; Clark Kerr, president emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley and elections specialists Richard Scammon and Howard Penniman.
Scammon and Penniman, according to the announcement, will go to El Salvador this week to make a preliminary visit to observe election preparations. The entire delegation will visit El Salvador during the final week of the campaign to witness the campaign and the voting process, including the counting.
According to the State Department, many Latin American countries are also sending delegations. The U.S. announcement said, 'The presence of this significant group of international observers will help ensure the Salvadoran people an opportunity to choose their own leaders in free and fair elections.'
