Armando Calderón Sol (24 June 1949 – 9 October 2017) was

President of El Salvador The president of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de El Salvador), officially known as the President of the Republic of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de la República de El Salvador), is the head of state and head of government of El Salvador. He is ...

from 1 June 1994, to 1 June 1999, representing the

Nationalist Republican Alliance The Nationalist Republican Alliance ( es, Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA) is a conservative, right-wing political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981 by retired Salvadoran Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. It defines ...

. He was the first president

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

in El Salvador after twelve years of

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

Early life and education

Born in San Salvador in 1949, Calderón attended the exclusive primary and secondary school Colegio Externado San José, graduating in 1966. In 1977, Calderón received a graduate degree in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

and Social Sciences from Universidad Nacional de El Salvador. He was a lawyer, a businessman, and one of the founders of

(ARENA), in September 1981.

Political career

Mayor of San Salvador

Mayor of San Salvador The Mayor of San Salvador (Spanish: ) is the head of the municipal government of the city of San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. History The position of Mayor of San Salvador was established on 1 April 1525 with Diego de Holguín ...

from 1988 to 1994 he built the Monument to "Hermano Lejano" at the end of the Comalapa Highway and Blvd. Los Proceres and also built the bust monuments along the Proceres Boulevard. He promoted

physical exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic ...

and initiated a cyclist's circuit in the San Jacinto neighbourhood on Avenida Cuba.

President of El Salvador

Former Presidents and First Ladies of El Salvador

When he ran for president in 1994 he won the presidential office during the runoff elections against the leftist candidate, Dr. Ruben Zamora from the CD- FMLN coalition. Calderón is acknowledged in the press for restoring the status-quo after the

, which ended on 16 January 1992. He advocated the

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

state owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owners ...

telephone companies and

pension funds A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

to stimulate the economy and modernize the country's infrastructure. He is also known for having promoted reforms to make El Salvador competitive in the

maquila A (), or (), is a word that refers to factories that are largely duty free and tariff-free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present t ...

industry, removing

trade barrier Trade barriers are government-induced restrictions on international trade. According to the theory of comparative advantage, trade barriers are detrimental to the world economy and decrease overall economic efficiency. Most trade barriers work ...

s across the board, including removing protection for local

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

. This had the unintended consequence of disrupting small scale farming, driving migration to larger cities (and abroad, especially the U.S.) and creating a cheaper labour supply for the maquilas. Calderón is also credited with the integration of former

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tacti ...

combatants back into civilian life. He is also known for having initiated the privatization of the telecommunications company

ANTEL ANTEL ( es, Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, lit=National Administration of Telecommunications) is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974 as a separate legal entity after spinning off the telecommun ...

and the electrical works company, CAESS (Compañía de Alumbrado Electrico de San Salvador), public hospitals and

. He followed president

Alfredo Cristiani Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard (born 22 November 1947) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994. Life and career Born into a wealthy family in San Salvador, his father Felix Cristiani was an Italian imm ...

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

approach, and his

structural adjustment programs Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) consist of loans (structural adjustment loans; SALs) provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to countries that experience economic crises. Their purpose is to adjust the coun ...

Death

Calderón Sol died on 9 October 2017 of lung cancer at a Houston, Texas, hospital at the age of 69.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20030207070924/http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/19990703/
Extended biography of Armando Calderón Sol at Fundación CIDOB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon Sol, Armando 1949 births 2017 deaths People from San Salvador Presidents of El Salvador Nationalist Republican Alliance politicians Mayors of places in El Salvador Mayors of San Salvador Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from lung cancer Sol family Grand Crosses with Diamonds of the Order of the Sun of Peru Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic