Alfredo Cristiani
| Alfredo Cristiani | |
|---|---|
President Cristiani in London
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| President of El Salvador | |
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In office June 1, 1989 – June 1, 1994 |
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| Vice President | José Francisco Merino López (1989-1994) |
| Preceded by | José Napoleón Duarte |
| Succeeded by | Armando Calderón Sol |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard November 22, 1947 San Salvador |
| Political party | ARENA |
| Spouse(s) | Margarita Llach de Cristiani |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Profession | politician |
Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard, popularly known as Alfredo Cristiani (born November 22, 1947) was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994.
Born into a wealthy family in San Salvador, his father Felix Cristiani was an Italian immigrant from Bagnaria, Italy and his mother Margoth Burkard de Cristiani was Salvadoran of Swiss descent. He was educated at the 'Escuela Americana' (American School) in San Salvador and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration. He returned to El Salvador to work for the family business, which included pharmaceuticals, coffee, cotton and until July 2008 the Semillas Cristiani Burkard (SCB) the Central American Monsanto Company representative, leading corn seed company focused on hybrid corn production.
He remained generally outside politics until the beginning of the 1980s when the armed conflict in El Salvador reached a critical point. As insurrection became more widespread, he became involved with the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which had been founded by School of the Americas trained military intelligence officer Roberto D'Aubuisson. In March 1985 D'Aubuisson resigned after ARENA suffered a defeat in the presidential elections. Cristiani became leader of the party in 1988.
In the local and congressional elections of March 1988, ARENA won 80% of the local votes and 31 of the 60 seats in the Congress; Cristiani won one of the seats. In the 1989 presidential election, Cristiani was elected President with 53.8% of the vote. His swearing-in marked the beginning of a 20-year period of ARENA presidencies, and also marked only the second time in El Salvador's history that the ruling party peacefully surrendered power to the opposition.
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