National Renewal Alliance

The National Renewal Alliance or Aliança Renovadora Nacional (ARENA) was a conservative political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

Up to 1965, there were three main parties in Brazil: the left-wing populist Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), the liberal 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 right wing of the PSD, and the bulk of the integralist Party of Popular Representation. The left wing of the PSD and most of the PTB formed 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. During most of the early part of the military regime, Brazil was, for all intents and purposes, a one-party state. However, it was not completely subservient. For example, in 1967 President Artur da Costa e Silva demanded that Congress prosecute a deputy 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 closed Congress and placed Brazil under a tight dictatorship.

In the legislative elections of 1974, MDB took many more seats than expected and almost gained a majority. The government reacted by passing legislation restricting the power of the opposition, and even succeeded in annulling the mandates of some Congressmen of the MDB.

In 1979, in a manoeuvre to divide the opposition, the government ended the bipartisan party system, and the ARENA was dissolved when the new political parties law became effective on 20 December 1979. In January 1980 members of the defunct ARENA founded the Democratic Social Party (PDS) as a continuation of ARENA.