Nationalist Republican Alliance

Alianza Republicana Nacionalista
Leader	Alfredo Cristiani
Founded	September 30, 1981
Headquarters	San Salvador, El Salvador
Ideology	Nationalism, Conservatism, Neoconservatism
Political position	Right-wing
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
Regional affiliation	Union of Latin American Parties
Seats in the Legislative Assembly	32 / 84
Website
www.arena.com.sv
Politics of El Salvador Political parties Elections

The Nationalist Republican Alliance (Spanish: Alianza Republicana Nacionalista or ARENA) is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time. In the peaceful post-civil war environment, the party functions as a normal right-wing party, in the same way that the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the former guerrilla group, known for opposing the government during the Salvadoran Civil War, is now the main left-wing party in the country. ARENA controlled the presidency continuously since 1989, before losing the 2009 presidential election.

History

Main article: Roberto D'Aubuisson

ARENA was founded shortly following the assassination of Oscar Romero in 1980; its founder is generally considered responsible for Romero's killing, but died before he could be charged. (For more information, see the article above on d'Aubisson.)

The party arose in response to the insurgency of the Frente Farabundo Martí for the National Liberation, FMLN, of communist ideology, which tried, through the arms, to demote the government and to install a state regime inspired by the governments of revolutionary Cuba and sandinista Nicaragua.^{[citation needed]}.

By its strong anti-communist line, ARENA had the support of some members of the Republican Party of the United States, like the ex- American senator Jesse Helms, who supported Roberto D'Aubuisson in the process of development of the party. The ideology the party affirms to believe in is a system of democratic and representative government, emphasizing the individual rights, the family like nucleus of the society and the respect to the 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 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.^[1]

Structure

ARENA is divided by 8 sectors: Agricultural, Professional, Femenine, Youth People, Workers, Peasants, Private Enterprise and Expats.^[2]

The highest authority of the party ARENA is the Comité Ejecutivo Nacionalista (COENA), which consists of 13 members. The members must be ratified annually through the General Assembly Ordinaria that is integrated by ARENA members of all the country and they have the power to ratify or nonmembers of the COENA, mainly the President.^[3]

After the COENA, there are 14 Directors in Chiefs, each one for each department in the county and Departamental Councils called "Juntas Directivas Conjuntas" are those that coordinates political work in their respective department. In each department a director is chosen and it works with an enclosed a member of COENA . Since its beginning, director´s role is to organize and coordinate electoral campaigns and take part with the councils into forming more similar estructures in each departamental "municipios", sort of counties and make periodical visits to all of them to get in touch with the people. ^{[4][Third-party source needed]}

Electoral record

At the legislative elections, held on March 16, 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 March 21, 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 June 1.

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 March 15, 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.^{[citation needed]}

ARENA Presidents of El Salvador

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

References

1. ^ CounterPunch, 22 July 2009, Back to the Future? Return to El Salvador
2. ^ arena.org.sv
3. ^ www.arena.org.sv
4. ^ arena.org.sv

External links

• Official website
• new official website---since july2009---
• Youth website
• Blog Despertar Nacionalista
• Rodrigo Ávila's website