Role as a Moderate Questioned : Salvador Winner: ‘False Face’ for D’Aubuisson?

The crowd was on the edge of bedlam, a politician’s delight of screams, tears of joy and a crescendo of chants, first for the party, then for its founder. As the shouting died down, as more of an afterthought than anything else, a single voice cried out the name of the candidate.

The scene was the last rally of the Nationalist Republican Alliance before Sunday’s presidential election, the crowd was 4,000 residents of the shabby working-class town of San Vicente and the afterthought was Alfredo Cristiani, the party’s presidential candidate.

The object of adoration of the sweating, rumpled mass was a cashiered army major, Roberto D’Aubuisson, a hypnotic speaker who created the party--commonly called Arena--in 1981 and whom his foes call the Hitler of El Salvador.

The rank-and-file’s preference for D’Aubuisson over their own presidential candidate underlines the doubts and fears held by many, including the American Embassy here and liberal members of the U.S. Congress, that “Fredy” Cristiani is the “false face” of D’Aubuisson and thus a moderate facade for a radically right-wing party.

D’Aubuisson, sometimes called “Major Bob,” has long been accused of involvement in the right-wing death squads and brutal anti-civilian tactics of the military in the early 1980s. Among the unproven accusations are that he engineered the 1980 murder of Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero and plotted the assassination of at least one American ambassador.

“The problem for Cristiani,” said a European diplomat in the hours after the Arena candidate’s unexpectedly easy victory Sunday, “is that everyone thinks--or at least wonders--that D’Aubuisson is the real power and that Fredy is a playboy who would rather be playing squash.”

Doubts about the 41-year-old Cristiani’s commitment to politics arise both from his past and from his own words.

“Sometimes I think I got in (politics) by accident, sometimes by mistake,” he told reporters during the campaign. “I know that I’d rather be sitting in my office than running for president.”

He would also rather be playing on the cement floor of El Salvador’s only squash court, where he has established himself as the country’s dominant player, an honor slightly diminished by a knowledgeable observer’s estimate that the new president would be ranked as only a “B” player in most of the world.

Sports, it is true, has made up a large part of the life of a man whose birth into great wealth and ease relieved him of the necessity of working hard for a living.

After returning from four years at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in 1968, the business administration graduate became a leader of the national volleyball team. He is also proud of his membership in a club basketball team that won a national title.

During his youth, he belonged to a motorcycle club called “The Bad Guys,” a group of teen-age friends who preened in front of their classmates at the tony American School favored by San Salvador’s elite. His motorcycling skills gained him the national motocross championship.

His friends point to his athleticism as a source and a symbol of his leadership abilities. His enemies say it indicates his shallowness and lack of purpose.

‘Very Active, Very Calm’

“He’s a natural,” said Saul Shuster, a close friend and one of the country’s most powerful business leaders. “He was always very active, but he also seemed very calm.”

But the leaders of the Christian Democratic Party, which ended up running a poor second in the elections, used Cristiani’s love of sports in a derisive television campaign spot. With the snarl of a motorcycle on the soundtrack, the picture showed an empty presidential office.

“That says everything you need to know about Fredy’s experience,” a Christian Democratic official said. “To make his resume fill a page, he had to list every sports team he’s ever played with.”

In reality, the resume covers a page and a half. Sports are covered in five lines.

The resume also barely hints at Cristiani’s other private activities. It says only that he is married to Margarita Llach, a member of one of San Salvador’s richest families, and that they have three sons.

Already wealthy as part of a leading agribusiness family, Cristiani was certified as part of the elite when he married into Llach clan. It also gave him the opportunity to prove that he was more than a useless sportsman.

He was given control of Insurance and Investment, a failing Llach business. Within three years, the business was one of the most successful and diversified firms in the region.

‘Good Sense of Smell’

“He’s got a good sense of smell,” said one associate. “He never looks like he’s running the show. He just works quietly without confrontation, making his moves without anyone noticing what’s really happening.”

It was that quality that first attracted the leaders of Arena when they decided that they needed someone other than D’Aubuisson, with his “bloody shirt” reputation, if the party were to win both U.S. approval and the presidency.

When he accepted leadership of the party, it was generally assumed that Cristiani was the “front man,” whose perfect English and button-down look would give Arena the appearance of moderation.

The tactic worked. The American Embassy, which had worked both openly and behind the scenes to engineer the 1982 and 1984 electoral defeats of D’Aubuisson, suddenly began talking about the new Arena moderation and saying Washington could accept an Arena victory in a free election.

Still, U.S. officials worried privately about Cristiani’s ability or willingness to prevent D’Aubuisson from setting party policy.

The doubts were not eased when Cristiani was unable to obtain the vice presidential nomination for another moderate and had to accept D’Aubuisson’s choice, Francisco Merino.

The U.S. Embassy was not pleased, either, with Cristiani’s endorsement of the anti-American stance of the old Arena leadership, even though he phrased it more gently.

“We can only lose if the United States steals the election,” he said in an interview in which he accused Washington of interfering in Salvadoran affairs.

Cristiani turned out to be a runaway winner, taking at least 54% of Sunday’s vote and, contrary to predictions, making a runoff unnecessary.

The Central Elections Council said Monday that a provisional count showed that Arena had 53.81% of the 576,339 votes counted from Sunday’s election, compared to 36.59% for the centrist Christian Democrats. Trailing were the conservative National Conciliation Party with 4.21% and the leftist Democratic Convergence at 3.2%. Other votes were divided among three smaller parties. The official count begins today.

Speaking of Cristiani’s decisive victory, a European diplomat said: “That was a bigger blow to D’Aubuisson than to (Fidel) Chavez Mena (the Christian Democratic candidate, who conceded defeat Monday). Fidel knew he would finally lose, but D’Aubuisson thought he would still control things if Fredy barely got by. Now he has the mandate and the power.”

ALFREDO CRISTIANI

Business interests--Millionaire with interests in coffee, cotton and securities industries; son of wealthy coffee-grower.

Education--Degree in business administration, 1968, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Political party--Standard-bearer of ultraright-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena party) in El Salvador. Party co-founder, ex-army Maj. Roberto D’Aubuisson, has been linked to death squads and remains influential in Arena.

Running mate--Francisco Merino, an aide to D’Aubuisson.

Campaign promises--To renew economy, wrecked by nine years of civil war; roll back land reform; negotiate with leftist rebels to end war. Plays down extremist aspects of Arena’s past and says party is moving toward center.

Personal life--Age 41; married to former Margarita Llach, from wealthy family; three sons. Helicopter pilot and avid sportsman; former national champion in volleyball, squash and motocross.