| National Renewal Alliance | |
| Headquarters: | Brasília, Federal District, Brazil |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Native Name: | Aliança Renovadora Nacional |
| Leader1 Title: | President |
| Merger: | National Democratic Union Social Progressive Party Popular Representation Party Social Democratic Party (factions) National Labour Party (factions) Christian Democratic Party (factions) |
| Successor: | Democratic Social Party |
| Position: | Far-right[1] [2] |
| Colours: | Dark blue |
The National Renewal Alliance (Portuguese: Aliança Renovadora Nacional, ARENA) was a far-right political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.
ARENA was part of a two-party system enforced by the dictatorship instituted in 1966, where only it and the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) — the "consented opposition" — were allowed. In 1979, a multi-party system was reintroduced to Brazil, both MDB and ARENA were officially dissolved, and the Democratic Social Party (PDS) was founded as a continuation of ARENA. Soon thereafter, PDS had a split which saw the creation of the Liberal Front Party (PFL), current Brazil Union (UNIÃO), while PDS merged with the PDC in 1993 became the Reform Progressive Party (PPR), which became the current Progressives (PP) in 1995.[3]
Until 1965, there were three main parties in Brazil: the populist Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), the centrist Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the conservative National Democratic Union (UDN). In 1964, the government of President João Goulart was overthrown by a military coup d'etat, but in contrast to other Latin American dictatorships, the Brazilian military-controlled government did not abolish Congress. Instead, in 1965, the government banned all existing political parties and created a two-party system. ARENA, the pro-government party, was formed by politicians from the bulk of the UDN, the Social Progressive Party of Adhemar de Barros (a supporter of the coup) and the integralist Popular Representation Party, plus the most right-wing factions of the PSD, the National Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Party. The main body of the PSD joined most of the PTB in forming the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the opposition.
ARENA had no real ideology other than support for the military, who used it mostly to rubber-stamp its agenda. In the elections of 1966 and 1970, ARENA won a vast majority of seats. Most agree that, at first, the MDB did not have any chance to pass or block any legislation. It also rubber-stamped the military leadership's choice of president. Under the military's constitution, the president was nominally elected by an absolute majority of both chambers meeting in joint session. In practice, ARENA's majority was so massive that its candidate could not possibly be defeated. During most of the early part of the military regime, Brazil was, for all intents and purposes, a one-party state. Indeed, during the first two elections under military rule, the MDB didn't even put up a presidential candidate.
However, ARENA was not completely subservient. For example, in the late 1968 President Artur da Costa e Silva demanded that Congress prosecute the congressman Márcio Moreira Alves for suggesting that women should refuse to dance with military cadets. Congress turned the demand down, prompting Costa e Silva to issue the heavy-handed Fifth Institutional Act, which allowed him to close Congress and rule by decree. Almost as soon as he signed AI-5 into law, Costa e Silva used its provisions to close Congress for almost two years, thus placing Brazil under a tight dictatorship.[4]
Despite the large volume of studies on the Brazilian military dictatorship, little is known about ARENA. There are historical doubts about the formation of the party, the reasons for the adhesion of most UDN members to ARENA, the ideological currents that permeated the ARENA party program and the extent to which ARENA was independent from the military.
In the 1974 legislative elections, MDB took many more seats than expected. It actually won a majority in the Senate, and came up just short of a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. The government reacted by decreeing the recess of the National Congress and editing on April 13, 1977 a set of constitutional amendments and decree-laws known as April Package (Pacote de Abril) which provided for the appointment of a third of senators, extended the presidential term to six years, restricted opposition power and even succeeded in annulling the mandates of some Congressmen of the MDB.[5]
In 1979, in a manoeuvre to divide the opposition, the government ended the bipartisan party system, and ARENA was dissolved when the new political parties law became effective on 20 December 1979.[6] In January 1980, most of ARENA's former members founded the Democratic Social Party (PDS) as a continuation of ARENA.
| Election | Party candidate | Running mate | Electoral votes | % | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Artur da Costa e Silva | Pedro Aleixo | 294 | 100% | Elected | |
| 1969 | Emílio Garrastazu Médici | Augusto Rademaker | 293 | 100% | Elected | |
| 1974 | Ernesto Geisel | Adalberto Pereira dos Santos | 400 | 84% | Elected | |
| 1978 | João Figueiredo | Aureliano Chaves | 355 | 61.10% | Elected |
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Artur da Costa e Silva | 8,731,638 | 64.0% | 277 | 1st | ||
| 1970 | Emílio Garrastazu Médici | 10,867,814 | 69.5% | 54 | 1st | ||
| 1974 | Ernesto Geisel | 11,866,599 | 52.2 % | 20 | 1st | ||
| 1978 | 15,053,387 | 50.4% | 28 | 1st |
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Artur da Costa e Silva | 7,719,382 | 56.6% | 19 | 1st | ||
| 1970 | Emílio Garrastazu Médici | 20,524,470 | 60.4% | 21 | 1st | ||
| 1974 | Ernesto Geisel | 10,067,796 | 41.0% | 34 | 2nd | Minority | |
| 1978 | 13,116,194 | 42.9% | 5 | 1st |
| Artur da Costa e Silva | 3 October 1899 | 17 December 1969 |
|
| |
| Humberto Castelo Branco | 20 September 1897 | 18 July 1967 |
| ||
| Emílio Garrastazu Médici | 4 December 1905 | 9 October 1985 |
| ||
| Ernesto Geisel | 3 August 1907 | 12 September 1996 |
| ||
| João Figueiredo | 15 January 1918 | 24 December 1999 |
| ||
| Pedro Aleixo | 1 August 1901 | 3 March 1975 |
|
| |
| Aureliano Chaves | 13 January 1929 | 30 April 2003 |
|
| |
| José Maria Alkmin | 11 June 1901 | 22 April 1974 |
|
| |
| Adalberto Pereira dos Santos | 11 April 1905 | 2 April 1984 |
| ||
| José Sarney | 24 April 1930 | living |
|
| |
| Antônio Carlos Magalhães | 4 September 1927 | 20 July 2007 |
|
| |
| Paulo Maluf | 3 September 1931 | living |
| ||
| Jorge Kalume | 3 December 1920 | 26 October 2010 |
|
| |
| Paulo Barreto Menezes | 9 October 1925 | 15 February 2016 |
| ||
| Fernando Collor de Mello | 12 August 1949 | living | |||
| João Alves Filho | 3 July 1941 | 24 November 2020 | |||
| José Maria Marin | 6 May 1932 | living |
|
| |
| Omar Sabino | 25 July 1932 | 22 July 2011 |
| ||
| Vasco Azevedo Neto | 25 February 1916 | 30 September 2010 |
|