Aliança Renovadora Nacional

ARENA logo

The Aliança Renovadora Nacional (short ARENA , German National Renewal Alliance ) was a conservative party in Brazil . ARENA served as the party of the Brazilian Armed Forces during the military dictatorship and was therefore the ruling party between 1965 and 1980 without interruption.

history

After the Brazilian military came to power in 1964, all existing parties were banned, but unlike in most other Latin American dictatorships, no one-party system was installed. Instead, the new rulers established a two-party system with ARENA as the government and the Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (MDB) as the opposition party. However, the balance of power between these parties was asymmetrical and the MDB had no chance to replace ARENA as the ruling party.

ARENA did not develop an independent program, but only implemented the requirements of the military leadership. In 1979 the government dissolved the two-party system in order to split the opposition , and in 1980 ARENA became part of the Partido Democrático Social (PDS).