Nationalist Republican Alliance

The Nationalist Republican Alliance (, abbreviated ARENA) is a conservative, center-right to right-wing political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981 by retired Salvadoran Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. It defines itself as a political institution constituted to defend the democratic, republican, and representative system of government, the social market economy system and nationalism.

ARENA controlled the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador until 1985, and its party leader Alfredo Cristiani was elected to the presidency in 1989. ARENA controlled the presidency from 1989 until 2009. The party gained a plurality in the Legislative Assembly in 2012. Maintaining only two seats in the 2024 legislative election, it has been the leading opposition party to the near-unanimous Nuevas Ideas.

History

The Nationalist Republican Alliance was founded on 30 September 1981 during the Salvadoran Civil War. Its founding leader was Roberto D'Aubuisson, a former major in the Salvadoran Army who was most well-known for commanding various death squads and ordering the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero in 1980. At the time of ARENA's establishment, it was considered a far-right political party. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States described ARENA as "reflect[ing] the personality" of D'Aubuisson, and that the party's primary goals were to defeat the far-left Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and "restore El Salvador to the days before the 1979 officers' coup".

The party's initial membership primarily consisted of members of the (MNS) and the (FAN) opposed to the ruling Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) and the preceding government of the National Conciliation Party (PCN).

The party arose in response to "the insurgency of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, a group that united peasant farmers, unionists and intellectuals, which tried, through arms, to overthrow the dictatorship and to install a state regime inspired by the governments of revolutionary Cuba and Sandinista Nicaragua".

The ideology the party claims to believe in is a system of democratic and representative government, emphasizing individual rights, the family as the nucleus of society and the respect for private property.

In February 2007, three ARENA politicians were murdered in Guatemala, including Eduardo D'Aubuisson, the son of party founder Roberto D'Aubuisson, in what was considered by the police as a crime related to drugs.

In 2009, ARENA took out a full-page ad in a Salvadoran newspaper calling on President Mauricio Funes to recognise the interim Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti installed after the military had expelled President Manuel Zelaya.

On 21 July 2022, Gustavo López Davidson, the leader of ARENA from August 2019 to February 2020, committed suicide amidst an ongoing investigation against him for embezzlement and arms trafficking.

From 2021 to 2024, the party was the second largest in the Legislative Assembly. Following the election of Nuevas Ideas' Nayib Bukele, the party has lost members of its party delegation to the ruling party.

Structure

The National Executive Council (, abbreviated COENA) is the leadership board of ARENA. Carlos García Saade has been the president of COENA since 27 February 2023.

In addition to the COENA, there are 14 Directors-in-Chief, one for each department and departmental councils called "Juntas Directivas Conjuntas" to coordinate political work in their respective department. In each department, a director is chosen who works with a specific member of COENA. The director's role is to organize and co-ordinate electoral campaigns and help the councils form party structures in the municipalities of their departments.

ARENA's party headquarters is located at 2429 Arce Street & North 45-47 Avenue in San Salvador. As of 2024, ARENA had 116,000 members.

Electoral record

At the legislative elections held on 16 March 2003, the party won 32.0% of the popular vote and 27 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly. ARENA's successful candidate in El Salvador's 2004 presidential election was Antonio Saca. On 21 March 2004, Saca defeated Schafik Hándal, the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), by a margin of 58% to 36% with 70% turnout. He was sworn in as president the following 1 June.

In the 12 March 2006 legislative election, the party won 39.4% of the popular vote and 32 out of 84 seats. At the 18 January 2009 legislative elections, the party received 38.55% of the vote, and again won 32 of the 84 seats.

On 15 March 2009, ARENA candidate Rodrigo Ávila lost the presidential election to Mauricio Funes of the FMLN. After elections, the party president was changed to Alfredo Cristiani.

On 9 March 2014, Salvador Sánchez Cerén of FMLN narrowly defeated the ARENA candidate Norman Quijano by 0.2% in a run-off vote in a controversial election.

ARENA also lost both 2019 presidential election and 2021 legislative election dominated by Nuevas Ideas, the party of current president Nayib Bukele. In 2024 election, ARENA got only two seats in the Legislative Assembly, while Bukele's Nuevas Ideas got supermajority.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Candidate First round Second round Result Votes % Votes % 1982 17 2nd colspan="3" Lost 1984 376,917 2nd 651,741 2nd 1989 505,370 1st colspan="3" Elected 1994 641,108 1st 818,264 1st 1999 614,268 1st colspan="3" 2004 1,314,436 1st colspan="3" 2009 1,284,588 2nd colspan="3" Lost 2014 1,047,592 2nd 1,489,451 2nd 2019 857,084 2nd colspan="3" 2024 177,881 3rd colspan="3" 2027 Mayteé Iraheta To be determined colspan="3"

Legislative Assembly elections

Election Votes % Position Seats +/– Status in legislature 1982 430,205 29.28% 2nd 19 1985 286,665 29.70% 6 1988 447,696 48.10% 1st 18 1991 466,091 44.33% 8 1994 605,775 45.03% 0 1997 396,301 35.40% 11 2000 436,169 36.04% 1 2003 446,233 31.90% 2nd 1 2006 620,117 39.40% 7 2009 854,166 38.55% 2 2012 620,117 39.40% 2 2015 885,374 38.90% 1st 2 2018 886,365 41.72% 5 2021 305,108 12.22% 2nd 23 2024 227,357 7.29 2nd 12 2027 To be determined

Nationalist Republican Alliance

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