After becoming President of El Salvador, he, with members of his cabinet, and other colleagues visited Europe and London. He was the principal guest at a dinner held in his honour by the Western Goals Institute at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, London, on 25 September 1989. The guest list included figures such as Sir Alfred Sherman (policy advisor to Margaret Thatcher), Professor Antony Flew, Zigmunt Szkopiak, Denis Walker and Dr Harvey Ward, all of whom were active anti-communists. This visit, along with others that included Spain, Italy, United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and all Central American countries, was part of a diplomatic effort carried out by Cristiani and his delegates in order to find and secure international support for the peace negotiation efforts that were being carried out by his government. Support was actively and officially sanctioned by Venezuela, Mexico, and Spain, who would play an active role, along with the United Nations, in the negotiating process.