the F.B.I., C.I.A., Defense IntelligencenAgency, Threat Assessment Group, Officenof Central American Affairs, andnothers. He was told that intelligencenreports indicated “that some ultra-conservativesnin EI Salvador in concert withn. . . elements of the security forces hadnconcluded that the United States’ mistakennview of human rights conditionsn. . . could best be corrected by havingnthe ‘communists’ assassinate the newnAmerican Ambassador upon his arrival.n. . . To achieve this, they would arrangenfor such an assassination . . . and wouldninsure that responsibility for it wasncredibly attributed to the ultra-Left.”nThis was the “well-educated and attractivenclass of people,” friendly to thenUnited States. Devine was assured thatnthe decision to proceed was up to him. Ifnhe decided in favor, he had to postponenhis departure, since the details of his andnhis family’s arrival had long been publicnknowledge. Plans had to be changed andnkept confidential, and he would have tontravel under an assumed name. Only twonhours before the plane landed in SannSalvador, the Foreign Ministry was informed.nThus the new American ambassadornentered El Salvador via the servicenentrance.nTwo special security agents accompaniednthe family, equipped with seventeennpieces of luggage containing weapons,ngas masks, bulletproof vests, radiocommunicationsnequipment and relatednparaphernalia. The agents were supposednto stay for a week, but new eventsndelayed their departure. It soon appearednobvious that the militant left alsonhad designs on the new ambassador. ThenFPL (Popular Liberation Forces “FarabundonMarti”) had decided that thennewly arrived American ambassadorn”represented the absolute trump cardn… in its campaign to free the politicalnprisoners.” Devine describes the situation:nFrom this point forward we lived in anconstant competition between enemynmoves to close in on me and Embassynmoves to make this impossible. . . .nMy photograph was circulated to FPLnagents. . . . Externally, FPL agentsnbegan to study the layout of the [Embassy]npremises. . . . Internally, theynpenetrated the groundfloor… in thenguise of visa applicants. . . . Our ownndefensive build-up was quite visiblento out enemy and in fact depended,nfor its efficiency, on the concept ofndeterrence.nThe two security guards stayed on andnwere reinforced. He always drove in anthree-car motorcade: first a sedan withnhighly visible gun ports, then the ambassador’snbulletproof, bombproof Cadillac,nand then a huge armored van. Thenroute was never the same two days in succession.nThe “Zones of VulnerabiUty,”ni.e. the end or beginning of the route,nthe embassy chancery and the embassynresidence, were covered by guards whonwould give the approaching motorcadenadvance radio clearance.nOf course, Mrs. Devine and the childrennalso required protection. And, incrediblenas it may sound, they all adjustednto it. Only an American ambassadorncould live, under the circumstances,na halfway normal life, to such andegree that I did not detect any unusualn’»•’//»(‘ T/jat Smile Off of Your Face’nII is lomimmly [hiiuj;l’ii ihaf Sliuki-n.s|n-ari- wroic A Michummer Sii’/.>/’.nPnc/M ;is :i wedilinj; cnrertuinment.nM.iiniihiiif; lo keep the }>uc’sts amusednwlu-n ihc band rook a break. He ihat as iinniav, tliii(inHui-n(c<)f (“)biT()ii, Titania,nHiillom, Fuik, er al. is truly funny. Atnk-asi wf ihouj^ht it was. Auordinj^ to thenrnovii- “iritii” for the Chicjgi} Trihunc,nin hi.s review of Vi’oody .Mien’s latestnwhiriisy:n’lrulyfuiinyi;i.iini-iiifu|).’-ii ihtSDi iainDickr.nU’i’s .sw: that eliminates Twelfth i^l.il.n/.(• [iijuriicn/s Genlilho?nmi Sheridan,ntension when I visited Devine two yearsnafter his arrival.nJt erhaps it was the fact that he hadnbeen the intended victim of assassinationnor kidnapping attacks by the extremenright and the extreme left which accountednfor the remarkable evenhandednessnof Devine’s reporting. Some representativesnof the human-rights lobbynwere critical of embassy procedures andnof “our [un]willingness to automaticallynaccept the leftist version over the rightistnone of events transpiring in El Salvador.”nFollowing the instmctions of the Carternadministration, Devine would pressnwithin meetings of the diplomatic corpsnfor a collective stand on human-rightsnviolations. But none of his colleagues,nthe papal nuncio included, would sidenwith him. They considered such a policyn”intervention in the internal affairs of ElnSalvador.” Others, both within and outsidenthe diplomatic corps, felt thatnhuman rights were being misapplied fornthe political ends of some groups tonchange governments of which they didnnot approve.nAs time went on, one embassy afternanother was occupied by leftist mobs thatnLirn-RAL Ci’LTi’RirinnnWilde, the entire Feydcaii—ihe funniestnof thcni all—and lountlc.ss other worksnof literature, written and performed,nthat don’t drive their auditors to acts ofnlivil di.sobedicme from ihe top rank.nAnd, of course, all Kearoti, GrouchoandnLaurel & Hardy had in mind were barricadesnin the streets and tnarclies innWashington. D.C. DnOctober 198Sn