Nationalist Republican Alliance

Nationalist Republican Alliance
Leader	Jorge Velado
Founded	30 September 1981
Headquarters	Prolongación Calle Arce, entre 45 y 47 av N. #2429. Col. Flor Blanca, San Salvador, El Salvador
Ideology	Salvadorian nationalism Conservatism Republicanism Neoliberalism
Political position	1981-1992: Far-right 1992-present: Right-wing
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
Regional affiliation	Union of Latin American Parties
Colours	Blue, white and red
PARLACEN group	Central American Democratic Alliance
Seats in the Legislative Assembly	35 / 84
Party flag
Website
www.arena.com.sv
Politics of El Salvador Political parties Elections

The Nationalist Republican Alliance (Spanish: Alianza Republicana Nacionalista or ARENA) is a rightist political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson and Mercedes Gloria Salguero Gross. ARENA controlled the National Assembly until 1985, and its next leader, Alfredo Cristiani, was elected to the presidency in 1989. ARENA controlled the presidency from 1989 to 2009 and gained a plurality in 2012.

History

Main article: Roberto D'Aubuisson

ARENA was founded in 1980 and was composed of former members from PCN. The party arose in response to "the insurgency of the Frente Farabundo Martí for the National Liberation, 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 affirms 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 Salvadorean newspaper calling on President Mauricio Funes to recognise the interim Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti installed after the military had expelled President Manuel Zelaya.

Structure

ARENA is divided into eight sectors: Agricultural, Professional, Feminine, Youth, Workers, Peasants, Private Enterprise, and Expats.

The highest authority of the party ARENA is the Comité Ejecutivo Nacionalista (COENA, "Nationalist Executive Committee"), which consists of 13 members. The members must be re-elected annually through the General Assembly of ARENA members.

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.

On February 19, 2013, Jorge Velado assumed the position as president of COENA, in a party leadership shake-up aimed at re-energizing a stale organization tainted by its association with the violent death squads of the 1980s, widespread corruption and the switch to the U.S. dollar as the national currency. Velado's former position as COENA's vice-president of ideology was immediately assumed by Ernesto Muyshondt.

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 Handal, the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, 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 January 18, 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.

ARENA Presidents of El Salvador

• Alfredo Cristiani (1989–1994)
• Armando Calderón Sol (1994–1999)
• Francisco Flores Pérez (1999–2004)
• Antonio Saca (2004–2009)

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Youth wing website (Spanish)
• Rodrigo Ávila's website (Spanish)