Central America: Starting a New Chapter

A festive inaugural an assassination attempt and a surprise visit

The day seemed more like a fiesta than a state occasion, a jubilant celebration with blue skies and sunny faces. As platoons of schoolchildren paraded through the streets waving tiny blue-and-white Salvadoran flags, vendors sliced tangy strips of green papaya for hungry onlookers. The sizzle of hot dogs on the grill mixed with the blare of Chuck Mangione jazz over the loudspeakers. When each of the 45 foreign delegations was introduced, the velodrome in downtown San Salvador reverberated with the applause of 6,000...