The Alliance for Work, Justice, and Education (in
Spanish: ''Alianza para el Trabajo, la Justicia y la Educación''), also known as the Alliance (in
Spanish: ''Alianza'') was a political coalition in Argentina in the early 21st century. It was born from the alliance of the
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...
, the
Front for a Country in Solidarity (FREPASO) and several smaller provincial parties in 1997. It was initially a
center-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonl ...
alliance, before
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
sectors took over the coalition. The Alliance disintegrated in the aftermath of the
December 2001 riots, with its members returning to their former parties or finding new ones.
History
In the
1995 elections, then-president
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...
was re-elected with 49,9% of the vote. The opposition had presented itself divided into two great forces, the
Front for a Country in Solidarity (FREPASO), an alliance of parties that obtained 29,3% of the votes, and the
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...
(UCR) that obtained 17%. It was evident that together, both forces obtained an adhesion similar to that of Menem's
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei.
Fo ...
(PJ). The coalition first took part in the
1997 legislative elections in which they emerged victorious against the ruling Justicialist Party. In the
1999 general elections, the alliance put forward
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) served as the President of Argentina from 1999 until his resignation in 2001. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he previously served as national senator for Buenos Aires across non-consecuti ...
(UCR), who together with
Carlos Álvarez (FREPASO) as his running mate, defeated Buenos Aires Governor and former Vice President under Menem
Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentina, Argentine former peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President of Argentina, Vice President ...
(PJ).
The Alliance presented itself as a
progressive, moderate
centre-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
alternative to Menem's
neoliberal
Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
government (stemming from the ideologies of the FREPASO and the UCR's pro-
social democracy
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
wing), with a mandate to end corruption and unemployment. However, De la Rúa soon revealed himself as unable or unwilling to tackle corruption and to revive the Argentine economy, which was in a
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...
, with innovative measures, and De la Rúa's own conservative wing within the UCR soon overtook the Alliance. In 2000, amid a scandal caused by
accusations of bribery involving UCR
senators and members of the cabinet, Álvarez resigned from the vice presidency, gravely hurting the unity of the Alliance.
In the
2001 legislative elections, the Alliance suffered a large defeat, winning only 35 seats of the 127 contested seats in the Chamber of Deputies an only 26 seats out of 70 in the Senate The socio-economic situation
worsened, and De la Rúa was forced to resign by the
December 2001 riots. The Alliance soon disintegrated, its members returning to their former parties or finding new ones.
References
See also
*
Politics of Argentina
*
December 2001 riots in Argentina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alliance For Work, Justice And Education
Radical Civic Union
Presidency of Fernando de la Rúa
Defunct political party alliances in Argentina
Political parties established in 1997
1997 establishments in Argentina
Political parties disestablished in 2001
2001 disestablishments in Argentina