Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, the presidential candidate from the Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, Guatemalan Christian Democracy, DCG, and representing a coalition of political parties, right, and his running mate Jorge Carpio Nicolle, center, converse with local civilians while campaigning before the 1982 elections in rural Quiché department, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. The Christian Democrats were running in the elections against the civilian candidate Ángel Aníbal Guevara, who was backed by the military and chosen successor to outgoing president Fernándo Romeo Lucas García, along with other opposition groups. When Guevara was declared the winner on March 7, the opposition candidates protested electoral fraud. Two weeks later on March 23, General Efraín Ríos Montt initiated a coup d'état led by a military junta and all cabinet ministers were replaced.
Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, the presidential candidate from the Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, Guatemalan Christian Democracy, DCG, and representing a coalition of political parties, center right, and politician Vinicio Cerezo, far right, at a campaign rally before the 1982 elections in rural Quiché department, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. The Christian Democrats were running in the elections against the civilian candidate Ángel Aníbal Guevara, who was backed by the military and chosen successor to outgoing president Fernándo Romeo Lucas García, along with other opposition groups. When Guevara was declared the winner on March 7, the opposition candidates protested electoral fraud. Two weeks later on March 23, General Efraín Ríos Montt initiated a coup d'état led by a military junta and all cabinet ministers were replaced.
Roberto D'Aubuisson, center, founder of right-wing conservative party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, campaigns during a presidential rally in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. ARENA was established in 1981 and was primarily supported by right-wing extremists and members of the country's economic elite. D'Aubuisson's connection with the death squads made him a controversial figure in United States-Salvadoran relations during the war. He did, however, receive support from influential U.S. Republicans looking to safeguard economic interests, proving no coincidence in the name Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (National Republican Alliance).
Roberto D'Aubuisson, center, founder of right-wing conservative party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, addresses a crowd during a presidential campaign rally in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. D'Aubuisson had previously served as Deputy Director of the Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Salvadoreña, National Security Agency of El Salvador, ANSESAL, known as the intelligence sector of the death squads, and was named responsible as giving the orders for the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero on March 24, 1980. D'Aubuisson died of throat cancer at the age of 48 in February of 1992, one month after the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords.
Salvadoran politician and presidential candidate José Napoleón Duarte (1925 - 1990) speaks at a campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, December 19, 1983. Duarte of the Partido Demócrata Cristiano, Christian Democratic Party, PDC, won the election after a run-off that ended on May 12, 1984. The PDC victory can be largely attributed to the more than $3 million in aid provided by the C.I.A. and the United States government to finance the elections in an effort to produce a moderate reformist government compliant with Washington’s interests.
Salvadoran politician and presidential candidate José Napoleón Duarte (1925 - 1990) speaks at a campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, December 19, 1983. Elections in El Salvador were lauded as an example of democratic progress and were supported fervently by the United States despite restrictions in popular participation and the dominant role of the military in essential policy areas.
Salvadoran politician and presidential candidate José Napoleón Duarte (1925 - 1990) speaks at a campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, December 19, 1983. In the 1984 presidential elections the U.S. initially supported candidate Francisco Guerrero from the Partido de Concertación Nacional, National Coalition Party, PCN, who was considered acceptably moderate to both the private sector and the army. After Guerrero lost the primary election in March of 1984, Washington threw their support behind Duarte to blunt the appeal of far-right candidate Roberto D’Aubuisson and his party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA.
Two armed security guards sit in the back of a vehicle during the political campaign of Alejandro Maldonado Aguire, the presidential candidate from the Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, Guatemalan Christian Democracy, DCG, in rural Quiché department, February 1, 1982. The Christian Democrats were running in the elections against the civilian candidate Ángel Aníbal Guevara, who was backed by the military and chosen successor to outgoing president Fernándo Romeo Lucas García, along with other opposition groups. When Guevara was declared the winner on March 7, the opposition candidates protested electoral fraud. Two weeks later on March 23, General Efraín Ríos Montt initiated a coup d’état led by a military junta and all cabinet ministers were replaced.
A crowd of indigenous people of Maya descent gather to listen to speeches during the political campaign of Alejandro Maldonado Aguire, the presidential candidate from the Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, Guatemalan Christian Democracy, DCG, in rural Quiché department, February 1, 1982. The Christian Democrats were running in the elections against the civilian candidate Ángel Aníbal Guevara, who was backed by the military and chosen successor to outgoing president Fernándo Romeo Lucas García, along with other opposition groups. When Guevara was declared the winner on March 7, the opposition candidates protested electoral fraud. Two weeks later on March 23, General Efraín Ríos Montt initiated a coup d’état led by a military junta and all cabinet ministers were replaced.
Portrait of an unidentified young woman dressed in yellow and pink as she stands during a political campaign rally before the Honduran national elections, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 1981.
Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of right-wing conservative party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, addresses a crowd during a presidential campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. ARENA was established in 1981 and was primarily supported by right-wing extremists and members of the country’s economic elite. D’Aubuisson’s connection with the death squads made him a controversial figure in United States-Salvadoran relations during the war. He did, however, receive support from influential U.S. Republicans looking to safeguard economic interests, proving no coincidence in the party name Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (National Republican Alliance).
Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of right-wing conservative party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, addresses a crowd during a presidential campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. D’Aubuisson’s connection with the death squads made him a controversial figure in United States-Salvadoran relations during the war. He did, however, receive support from influential U.S. Republicans looking to safeguard economic interests, proving no coincidence in the party name National Republican Alliance.
Pedestrians walk past a presidential election poster for the right-wing political party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, on their way home from work in the Mejicanos neighborhood of San Salvador, El Salvador, May 1, 1984. ARENA was founded in 1981 from a convergence of the landowning oligarchy and the extreme anti-communist right. The party received formative support from Guatemala's fascist ultra-right political party Movimiento de Liberación Nacional, National Liberation Movement, MLN, and from several influential members of the Republican party of the United States. Roberto D'Aubuisson, founding member of ARENA and the presidential candidate for the party in the 1984 elections, was known to have close ties to the death squads and had a reputation for extreme violence.
Salvadoran presidential candidate José Napoleón Duarte of the Partido Demócrata Cristiano, Christian Democratic Party, PDC, takes questions from journalists at a press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. Duarte was officially declared the winner after a second run-off election between the PDC and the right-wing party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, on May 12, 1984. This victory can be largely attributed to the more than $3 million in aid, both overt and covert, provided by the United States to finance the elections in an effort to produce a moderate reformist government compliant with Washington’s interests.
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, right, listens to Salvadoran presidential candidate Roberto D'Aubuisson, left, from the right-wing party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, National Republican Alliance, ARENA, on the campaign trail in San Salvador, El Salvador, May 9, 1984. Vargas Llosa was reporting and writing about the Salvadoran presidential elections for Time magazine. José Napoleón Duarte of the Partido Demócrata Cristiano, Christian Democratic Party, PDC, was elected president on May 12, 1984. This victory can be largely attributed to the more than $3 million in aid, both overt and covert, provided by the United States to finance the elections in an effort to produce a moderate reformist government compliant with Washington's interests.
Vinicio Cerezo, center, politician from the Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, Guatemalan Christian Democracy, DCG, speaks with a colleague following the presidential elections in Guatemala City, Guatemala, March 7, 1982. Cerezo would later serve as president from 1986 to 1991. He was the first democratically-elected civilian president of Guatemala in 20 years. Cerezo signed several initiatives during his presidency including the Central American Peace Accords, in which the heads of state of the Central American countries agreed on an economic and political framework to resolve conflict in the region. This laid the foundation for the 1996 UN-brokered "Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace" that formally ended over three decades of conflict in Guatemala.
Italian cameraman Michele Taverna, left, films a presidential campaign rally in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 1, 1984. José Napoleón Duarte of the Partido Demócrata Cristiano, Christian Democratic Party, PDC, was elected president on May 12, 1984. This victory can be largely attributed to the more than $3 million in aid, both overt and covert, provided by the United States to finance the elections in an effort to produce a moderate reformist government compliant with Washington's interests.