Nationalist Republican Alliance

Nationalist Republican Alliance Alianza Republicana Nacionalista
Abbreviation	ARENA
President	Carlos García Saade
Founder	Roberto D'Aubuisson
Founded	30 September 1981; 43 years ago (1981-09-30)
Registered	4 December 1981; 43 years ago (1981-12-04)
Headquarters	2429 Arce Street & North 45-47 Avenue, San Salvador, El Salvador
Youth wing	Nationalist Republican Youth
Membership (2019)	127,543[1]
Ideology	Conservatism[2][3] Nationalism[4] Anti-communism[5] Economic liberalism[6]
Political position	Center-right[7][8] to right-wing[9][10][11][12][13] Historical: Far-right[14][15]
Regional affiliation	Union of Latin American Parties[16]
International affiliation	International Democracy Union[17]
Colors	Blue   White   Red
Slogan	Peace, progress and freedom (Spanish: «Paz, progreso y libertad»)
Anthem	Marcha de ARENA
Seats in the Legislative Assembly	2 / 60
Municipalities	1 / 44
Seats in PARLACEN	2 / 20
Party flag
Website
https://arena.org.sv
Politics of El Salvador Political parties Elections

The Nationalist Republican Alliance (Spanish: Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, abbreviated ARENA) is a conservative,^[6] center-right^[7][8] to right-wing^{[10][11][12][13]} 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 National 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.

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.^[18] 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".^[14]

The party's initial membership primarily consisted of members of the Salvadoran Nationalist Movement [ru] (MNS) and the National Broad Front [ru] (FAN) opposed to the ruling Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) and the preceding government of the National Conciliation Party (PCN).^[19]

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".^{[citation needed]}

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.^[20][21]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[22][23]

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.^[24]

The National Executive Council (Consejo Ejecutivo Nacional, abbreviated COENA) is the leadership board of ARENA.^[25] Carlos García Saade has been the president of COENA since 27 February 2023.^[26]

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.^{[original research?]}

ARENA's party headquarters is located at 2429 Arce Street & North 45-47 Avenue in San Salvador.^[27] As of 2019, ARENA had 127,543 members.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[28]

ARENA also lost both 2019 presidential election and 2021 legislative election dominated by Nuevas Ideas, the party of current president Nayib Bukele.^[29][30] In 2024 election, ARENA got only two seats in the Legislative Assembly, while Bukele's Nuevas Ideas got supermajority.^[31]

Election	Candidate	First round		Second round		Result	Ref.
		Votes	%	Votes	%
1982	Hugo César Barrera	17[a]	32.08%	—		Lost N
1984	Roberto D'Aubuisson	376,917	29.77%	651,741	46.41%		[32]
1989	Alfredo Cristiani	505,370	53.82%	—		Elected Y	[33]
1994	Armando Calderón Sol	641,108	49.03%	818,264	68.35%		[33]
1999	Francisco Flores	614,268	51.96%	—			[34]
2004	Antonio Saca	1,314,436	57.71%	—			[35]
2009	Rodrigo Ávila	1,284,588	48.68%	—		Lost N	[36]
2014	Norman Quijano	1,047,592	38.96%	1,489,451	49.89%		[37]
2019	Carlos Calleja	857,084	31.72%	—			[29]
2024	Joel Sánchez	177,881	5.57%	—			[38]

This graph was using the legacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to the new Chart extension.

Election	Votes	%	Position	Seats	+/–	Status in legislature	Ref.
1982	430,205	29.28%	2nd	19 / 60	19	Opposition	[39]
1985	286,665	29.70%		13 / 60	6	Opposition	[40]
1988	447,696	48.10%	1st	31 / 60	18	Opposition	[41]
1991	466,091	44.33%		39 / 84	8	Government	[41]
1994	605,775	45.03%		39 / 84	0	Government	[42]
1997	396,301	35.40%		28 / 84	11	Government	[42]
2000	436,169	36.04%		29 / 84	1	Government	[43]
2003	446,233	31.90%	2nd	27 / 84	1	Government	[43]
2006	620,117	39.40%		34 / 84	7	Government	[44]
2009	854,166	38.55%		32 / 84	2	Opposition	[45]
2012	620,117	39.40%		34 / 84	2	Opposition	[46]
2015	885,374	38.90%	1st	32 / 84	2	Opposition	[47]
2018	886,365	41.72%		37 / 84	5	Opposition	[48]
2021	305,108	12.22%	2nd	14 / 84	23	Opposition	[49]
2024	227,357	7.29	2nd	2 / 60	12	Opposition	[50]

• List of political parties in El Salvador
• Politics of El Salvador

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Youth wing website (in Spanish)