ARENA UNVEILS NEW EXEC COMMITTEE

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000552

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ES
SUBJECT: ARENA UNVEILS NEW EXEC COMMITTEE


1. (U) Summary: The (center-right, pro-U.S.) ARENA party
publicly unveiled its new Executive Committee (COENA)
June 14 in front of an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.
Former Salvadoran President and new COENA head Alfredo
Cristiani addressed the ARENA faithful, calling for party
unity as ARENA sets its sights on the 2012 and 2014
elections. Cristiani called for the creation of a Legislative
Assembly working group to watch over public school curricula
and ensure the preservation of democratic principles. End
Summary.


2. (U) ARENA National Executive Committee met June 14 to
ratify its new leaders; former President Alfredo Cristiani
(1989-1994) will head the party along with a team of twelve
mostly young ARENA politicians. Former Presidents Armando
Calderon Sol (1994-1999) and Cristiani gave brief speeches to
a large crowd of ARENA politicians and supporters. Although
former President Antonio Saca was present center-stage, he
kept a low profile; Saca neither spoke publicly nor was
directly mentioned. Appeals in Cristiani's speech to look
forward rather than to the past were not-too-subtle
references to the Saca administration, which has quickly
become the scapegoat for ARENA's March 15 election loss.


3. (U) Cristiani looked forward to the 2012 legislative and
2014 presidential elections; calling for unity, he proposed
that ARENA reorganize the party, strengthen its eight
sectors, become more inclusive, return to grass roots, and
improve ties with ARENA mayors and deputies. Cristiani also
declared that the Chief and Deputy Chief of the ARENA
legislative bloc and mayors would be invited to weekly
meetings. Voicing concerns over schoolchildren indoctrination
by Cuban teachers, ARENA will form a working table at the
Legislative Assembly to preserve democratic principles in
public school curricula. In one of few direct references to
the new President, Cristiani called Funes and his party a
"government of two heads," referring to the lack of unity
between the President and the (left-wing) FMLN.


4. (U) Comment: ARENA seems determined to recover quickly
from a difficult election defeat. The party and its support
base, as demonstrated by the enthusiastic showing at the
COENA unveiling, are eager to become an assertive opposition
to the new FMLN government.



BLAU