Information on the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) since the peace agreement went into effect (January 1992) is rather limited among the sources currently available to the DIRB. Besides the general political and human rights information sources available at your Regional Documentation Centre (such as the yearly Political Handbook, Country Reports and their corresponding Critique, among others), the documents attached to this Response provide a few references to the PDC that may be of interest.

One of the attached documents states the following:

The Christian Democrats, once a force in Salvadoran politics, remain mired in the internal conflicts that have plagued the party since 1992. The party's vice-presidential candidate, businessman Ulises Gonz lez, withdrew from the race November 12, citing concern, amid the current wave of apparently political violence, for the safety of his family. The party scrambled to nominate former president Napoleón Duarte's minister of planning, Atilio Viéytez (Central America Report 13 Jan. 1994).

Another attachment also states that the person chosen to run for vice-president in the PDC's platform for the March 1994 elections withdrew from the race "because he feared for the safety of his family" (Latin American Weekly Report 25 Nov. 1993). The third attachment reports that an explosive device was thrown at the house of a PDC candidate for deputy on 17 December 1993 (Human Rights Watch Mar. 1994, 12).

The PDC came third in the latest general elections, winning 18 seats in the vote for the 84-seat legislative assembly (Latin American Weekly Report 21 Apr. 1994).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Central America Report [Guatemala]. 13 January 1994. "El Salvador: Campaign Begins with Reforms."

Human Rights Watch-Americas. March 1994. El Salvador-Darkening Horizons: Human rights on the Eve of the March 1994 Elections.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 21 April 1994. "Salvadorean Congress."

. 25 November 1993. "El Salvador: Withdrawal."

Central America Report [Guatemala]. 13 January 1994. "El Salvador: Campaign Begins with Reforms."

Human Rights Watch-Americas. March 1994. El Salvador-Darkening Horizons: Human rights on the Eve of the March 1994 Elections, p. 12.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 25 November 1993. "El Salvador: Withdrawal."