Alfredo Cristiani
Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard, popularly known as Alfredo Cristiani (b. c1948) was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994.
Born into a wealthy family in San Salvador, 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.[1]
He remained generally outside politics until the beginning of the 1980s when the leftist FMLN guerillas and their campesino followers began squatting on farms. As insurrection became more widespread, he became involved with the Conservative ARENA party, 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 congressional elections, and Cristiani became leader of the party. He resumed leadership of the party in 2009 following electoral defeats.
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. This was the beginning of a 20-year period of ARENA presidencies, and also marked the first time that power was transferred from one freely-elected civilian President to another. The Salvadoran Civil War finally ended in 1992 with the Chapultepec Peace Accords.
During his term as president, his Minister of the Presidency, the 73 year-old Jose Antonio Rodriguez Porth, was assassinated. This brought disapproval by the international community against Human Rights. His murder was attributed to the semi-autonomous guerrilla units.
He was still a member of the National Assembly in 2000.
He married Margarita née Llach, and has three children.
[edit] The Youth Penal Code
The National Assembly proposed a Penal Code specific for the Youth and it was approved during President Cristiani's term. His Minister of Justice was Rene Hernandez. This law came into efect on May 6, 1995. Crimes committed by young minors are not judged under the regular Penal Code, but under the Youth Penal Code applied to minors between the ages of 12 and 16 years old. The maximum term for a minor who committs a crime was originally only 5 years, but it has recently been changed to more years.
| Preceded by José Napoleón Duarte |
President of El Salvador 1989–1994 |
Succeeded by Armando Calderón Sol |
[edit] References
- Europa Publications Ltd., The International Who's Who 2000, 63rd edition, Surrey, UK, p. 345, ISBN 1-85743-050-6
- ^ reuters Jul 2, 2008 Monsanto Company Completes Acquisition of Semillas Cristiani Burkard
