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

(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.

History

References

See also