Independent Democratic Union facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Independent Democratic Union Unión Demócrata Independiente

Leader	Javier Macaya
Secretary-General	María José Hoffmann
Chief of Deputies	Gonzalo Ramírez
Chief of Senators	Gustavo Sanhueza
Founder	Jaime Guzmán
Founded	September 24, 1983
Headquarters	Suecia 286, Providencia, Santiago de Chile
Youth wing	Nuevas Generaciones UDI
Membership (2023)	34,121
Ideology	Conservatism Christian right Economic liberalism Anti-communism
Political position	Right-wing
National affiliation	Chile Vamos
International affiliation	International Democracy Union
Regional affiliation	Union of Latin American Parties
Colours	Blue, White and Yellow
Chamber of Deputies	23 / 155
Senate	9 / 43
Regional boards	46 / 278
Mayors	60 / 345
Communal Councils	352 / 2,224
Party flag

Website
http://www.udi.cl/
^ A: The party has also been described as centre-right and far-right.

The Independent Democratic Union (Unión Demócrata Independiente, UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile. It was started in 1983. Its founder was a lawyer and politician named Jaime Guzmán. He was a close helper of Augusto Pinochet. Guzmán was a senator from 1990 until he sadly passed away on April 1, 1991.

The UDI's ideas came from Guzmán's Guildist Movement. This movement began at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1966. It believed that groups in society should be independent and not controlled by politics. Today, UDI is a conservative party with strong connections to Opus Dei.

For most of its history, UDI has worked with National Renewal (RN) and other smaller groups. They formed different alliances like Chile Vamos (since 2015). UDI was the biggest political party in the Congress between 2010 and 2014. The party has been part of the government twice, from 2010 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2022.

The party has two main groups: one that is more liberal-conservative and another that is social-conservative. The social-conservative group focuses on helping people in poorer areas. The liberal-conservative group has ties to businesses in Chile. They also work with research groups and train young political leaders. Many of these young leaders, like Jaime Bellolio and Javier Macaya, studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC).

The Story of UDI
Presidential Candidates Supported by UDI
Party Logos Over Time
See Also

The Story of UDI

How UDI Started (1967–1988)

In the 1960s, there were many student protests at universities. Jaime Guzmán, who was the head of the Law Students Union at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, did not agree with these protests. He gathered a group of students and started the Movimiento Gremial (Guildist Movement). This movement quickly became very important at the Catholic University. They even won the election for the university's Student Union.

Jaime Guzmán believed that social groups should be independent and work for their own goals. He supported the idea of subsidiarity. During the government of Salvador Allende, some young members from other parties joined Guzmán's movement.

Guzmán supported a military takeover against Allende's government. This happened on September 11, 1973. He was a close advisor to General Augusto Pinochet. Guzmán also helped write the new constitution that was put in place in 1980.

After an economic crisis in 1982, Guzmán decided to create his own movement. He started the Independent Democratic Union Movement on September 24, 1983. This new movement supported the military government. Unlike older right-wing groups, it wanted to connect with people from all social classes. UDI worked to find leaders in rural areas and poor neighborhoods. This helped them gain influence among middle and lower-class people.

In 1987, the Independent Democratic Union joined with other groups to form the National Renewal party (RN). This party tried to unite all right-wing movements in Chile. However, UDI members wanted to keep their own identity. This led to problems, and in 1988, all former UDI members left National Renewal. Jaime Guzmán then officially registered a new political party called the Independent Democratic Union in 1989.

End of the Military Government (1988–1989)

UDI strongly supported Pinochet staying in power in the 1988 Chilean national plebiscite. But the "Yes" option lost. When presidential elections were announced, UDI joined National Renewal. They formed an alliance called "Democracy and Progress." Hernan Büchi, who used to be Pinochet's Minister of Finances, ran for president for this alliance.

In the 1989 elections, UDI did not win the presidency. The center-left candidate, Patricio Aylwin, won. In the parliamentary elections, UDI got 9.82% of the votes for deputies and 5.11% for senators. Jaime Guzmán became a senator for Western Santiago.

Growing as an Opposition Party (1989–2003)

Joaquín Lavín, Jaime Guzmán and Jovino Novoa. Around 1990.

By 1990, Guzmán was a leader of the opposition. He often criticized the new democratic government. Sadly, on April 1, 1991, Guzmán passed away. He was replaced as senator by Miguel Otero.

At first, UDI was a smaller party compared to its ally, National Renewal. But over the years, UDI grew a lot. They got 12.11% in the 1993 elections, 14.45% in 1997, and 25.19% in the 2001 elections. In 2001, UDI became the largest party in Chile.

In 1998, when Pinochet was arrested in London, UDI and National Renewal pushed the government to bring him back to Chile.

In 1999, Joaquín Lavín, a UDI member and mayor, ran for president. He was a new face and had practical ideas. He got 47.51% of the votes in the first round. In January 2000, Lavín got 48.69% of the votes in the second round, but he lost to Ricardo Lagos. This was the highest percentage of votes a right-wing candidate had received in the 20th century in Chile.

During the first part of Ricardo Lagos's presidency (2000–2006), UDI became a very important opposition party. They did well in the 2000 local elections and the 2001 parliamentary elections. A key figure during this time was the party president, Pablo Longueira.

In 2003, Longueira shared in a TV interview that he met with families of people who had disappeared. He said the party was a serious and trustworthy group that could help them. These meetings led to a document called "Peace Now," which aimed for national reconciliation.

Differences with National Renewal (2003–2006)

Also in 2003, there were many disagreements between RN and UDI. They argued over who should lead the Alliance for Chile. There were also personal issues between the leaders of both parties, Pablo Longueira and Sebastián Piñera. Joaquín Lavín, who was then the leader of the Alliance, asked both of them to step down from their positions.

In 2005, UDI chose Joaquín Lavín to run for president again. But National Renewal put forward its own candidate, Sebastián Piñera. They could not agree on one candidate. Piñera came in second place, and there was a second round of voting between him and Michelle Bachelet. Lavín asked his supporters to vote for Piñera. However, Piñera lost to Bachelet in 2006. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, UDI remained the largest party in Congress.

Michelle Bachelet's First Government (2006–2010)

During Michelle Bachelet's government (2006–2010), UDI was the biggest party in both parts of Congress. They also did well in the local elections in 2008. In July 2008, two groups ran to lead the party. Juan Antonio Coloma won with 63% of the votes.

Coloma's team immediately started preparing for the 2008 local elections. After that, they got ready for the parliamentary and presidential elections the next year. In December 2008, the party leaders decided not to have a UDI presidential candidate. Instead, they supported Piñera's campaign. They wanted to stop the Concertación party from winning for the fifth time in a row. This decision was agreed upon by all party members in August 2009.

In the 2009 Chilean parliamentary election, UDI had the most deputies elected, with 40 out of 120. This was the largest group of deputies a single party had gotten in Chile since 1990.

In the 2008 Chilean municipal election, UDI got 347 council members and 58 mayors. That year, it was the largest party by elected council members. It was also the second-largest party by the number of mayors in Chile.

Sebastián Piñera's First Government (2010–2014)

Sebastián Piñera, the candidate of the Coalition for Change, became President of Chile on January 17, 2010. UDI and its strong presence across the country were very important for Piñera's success. UDI remained the largest party in the country and elected 40 deputies.

In August 2010, Juan Antonio Coloma won again to lead the party. Many UDI members played important roles in Piñera's government. These included Joaquin Lavin in the Ministry of Education, Pablo Longueira in the Ministry of Economy, and Andres Chadwick in the Ministry of Interior.

The party's influence meant that Piñera's government took a more conservative approach on education, economy, and cultural issues. They had a moderate view on social policies like maternity leave and civil unions for same-sex couples.

In the 2013 primary elections, the UDI candidate for the Alliance (Chile) was Pablo Longueira. He won against Andrés Allamand. However, Longueira had to step down from the campaign due to personal health issues. Evelyn Matthei replaced Longueira as the party's candidate. In the first round, she came in second place. In the second round, Michelle Bachelet defeated Matthei by a large difference.

Michelle Bachelet's Second Government (2014–2018)

The Independent Democratic Union played a big role in opposing Bachelet's second government in Congress. They disagreed with and rejected major changes to the tax system, electoral system, and education. They also opposed reforms to labor laws, same-sex marriage, and changes to the constitution. In 2015, UDI formed a new center-right group called Chile Vamos with National Renewal and Evópoli.

Between 2014 and 2015, the party faced a big challenge. There were issues about how campaigns were funded and links with large companies. These problems had political and legal results. Many party leaders, former ministers, senators, and deputies were affected. The party's popularity also went down a lot.

Despite these challenges, UDI became the most voted party in the country again during the 2016 Chilean local elections.