The National Renovation Party (Spanish: ''Partido Renovación Nacional'', PRN) was a
reformist
Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement.
Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
and
progressive political party in
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
that was supportive of the government of
Jacobo Arbenz
Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico
* Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican profession ...
. The PRN was founded by a group of the young revolutionaries on 1 July 1944, following the overthrow of dictator
Jorge Ubico
Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan dictator. A general in the Guatemalan army, he was elected to the presidency in 1931, in an election where ...
and the beginning of the
Guatemalan Revolution
The period in the history of Guatemala between the coups against Jorge Ubico in 1944 and Jacobo Árbenz in 1954 is known locally as the Revolution ( es, La Revolución). It has also been called the Ten Years of Spring, highlighting the peak y ...
. Its founders included Juan José Orozco Posadas, and Mario Efraín Nájera Farfán. The PRN was known as a “teachers' party”, in contrast to the
Popular Liberation Front (FPL), which was seen as a "students' party”. During this period the PRN and the FPL were the largest of the revolutionary parties.
In the 1944 elections, the first democratic elections that had been held in the country, the PRN nominated
Juan José Arévalo
Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United ...
as its candidate. In November 1945 it merged with the FPL to form the
Revolutionary Action Party (PAR), but split from it eighteen months later. This split was partially the result of ideological differences, and partially the result of manipulations by Arévalo, who preferred to deal with a fractured opposition. After some hesitation the PRN joined the
Party of the Guatemalan Revolution
The Party of the Guatemalan Revolution (, PRG) was formed in June 1952 during the Guatemalan Revolution to unite the non-Communist parties which were supporting the administration of Jacobo Árbenz. These included the Popular Liberation Front, th ...
in June 1952, but withdrew a month later. PRN was the smallest party in the coalition governments of
Jacobo Árbenz
Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th President of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, and the second democratical ...
(1951-1954). It was disbanded after the
coup d'état of 1954.
Notes and references
;References
;Sources
*
{{Guatemala-party-stub
Defunct political parties in Guatemala
Guatemalan Revolution