Calleja, Carlos

Born in the family of a large businessman. Francisco Calleja - the father of Carlos Calleja - one of the richest people in El Salvador, the head of the business conglomerate Grupo Calleja . The group of companies is engaged in retail trade and financial operations. The basic structure is the Súper Selectos supermarket chain ^[1] .

Higher education Carlos Calleja received in the United States . He graduated from Middlebury College in the course of art history and New York University in the course of business management ^[2] .

From an early youth, Carlos Calleja joined the family business (starting with loading and unloading). Returning from the United States, he took over as vice president of Grupo Calleja and Súper Selectos. He was president of the Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the leadership of the National Association of Private Entrepreneurs, and heads the Central American Association of Supermarkets ^[1] . Francisco Calleja publicly noted the great entrepreneurial abilities of his son ^[3] .

The business strategy of Carlos Calleja is based on import substitution and commercial incentives for Salvadorian agricultural production, undermined by the civil war of the 1980s ^[4] . This had an effect: the Súper Selectos chain - about 100 stores, up to 7 thousand employees and 12 thousand affiliated workers - took control of about 60% of the retail market, greatly displacing such a powerful competitor as Walmart ^[2] .

Súper Selectos' wholesale policy included significant preferences for local suppliers. The Kaleh Special Fund developed social and innovative programs - job creation, technical skills training. The success of the group of companies was highly appreciated by Bill Clinton and Carlos Slim , who specially visited Salvador in 2015 ^[4] .

The Calech family is influential in Salvadoran politics. Grupo Calleja is one of the largest sponsors of the right-wing party Nationalist Republican Alliance ( ARENA ). For the period 2014 - 2017, more than a million dollars were received from the group of companies at the party cash desk ^[5] .

In the spring of 2017, Carlos Calleja expressed his intention to run for president of Salvador from the ARENA party ^[6] . Observers noted the populist style of political advertising Kalehi, the rapid mobilization in support of the largest media ^[7] , the sharply offensive nature of the campaign, typical of the factional struggle ^[8] .

Not the whole party was ready to agree with this. Many of its leaders, including the founders - associates of Roberto d'Aubusson of the 1980s, said that it was about the establishment in ARENA of “feudal domination” of the largest financial groups, one way or another closed to Alfredo Cristiani ^[5] . This was especially striking against the backdrop of statements by party chairman Mauricio Interiano on the independence of ARENA from large business ^[9] . At the same time, the rivals of Carlos Calleja were also large businessmen - Javier Siman and Gustavo Lopez Davidson .

Presidential candidates are nominated in El Salvador through party primaries . In his program, Carlos Calleja focused on the issues of socio-economic development based on free enterprise, ensuring social stability, combating corruption and supporting traditional Catholic values. It belongs to the new generation of Salvadoran right - not directly related to the legacy of the Civil War and the ultra-right ideology of death squads such as UGB or FAR .

At the same time, Carlos Calleja emphasizes his commitment to the ideas and principles of Roberto d'Aubusson. His Twitter post of the corresponding content, which appeared on February 20, 2018 , caused a wide resonance and ambiguous, sometimes very sharp estimates. The next day, Carlos Calleja, along with Javier Siman, took part in a traditional party ceremony dedicated to the anniversary of the death of d'Aubusson ^[10] . Commentators recalled that the principles of the times of d'Aubusson meant not only consistent anti-communism and the rejection of Marxist ideas of the class struggle, but also the brutal actions of the "death squads" ^[11] .

ARENA members voted on April 22, 2018 . A significant majority of the votes cast - over 34 thousand out of approximately 58 thousand (in total, more than 120 thousand people are members of ARENA) received Carlos Calleja ^[12] . In the ARENA party asset, the outcome of the vote was seen as a triumph of the principles of democracy and the ideas of d'Aubusson. Kaleha himself declared "the triumph of not a candidate, but a great party and its internal democracy" ^[13] .

On the other hand, the nomination of Calleja was strongly condemned by authoritative veterans ARENA and MNS , participants in the civil war Alfredo Mena Lagos ^[14] and Ernesto Panama Sandoval ^[15]. Both supported the candidacy of Javier Siman.

The presidential election in El Salvador is scheduled for February 3, 2019.

Carlos Calleja is married, has a son and daughter ^[16] . ARENA campaign materials highlight Kaleha’s commitment to Christian family values.

• Norman Chihano
• Rodrigo Avila
• Roberto D'Aubusson Jr.