Unidad Popular (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "Popular Unity" or "People's Unity") was a coalition of left wing, socialist and communist political parties

Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

 in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 that stood behind the successful candidacy of Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

 for the 1970 Chilean presidential election.

Succeeding to the FRAP

FRAP (Chile)

The FRAP was a Chilean left-wing coalition of parties from 1956 to 1969. It presented twice a common candidate, Salvador Allende, for the 1958 and the 1964 presidential elections...

 left-wing coalition, it comprised most of the Chilean Left

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

: the Socialist Party

Socialist Party of Chile

The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...

, the Communist Party

Communist Party of Chile

The Communist Party of Chile is a Chilean political party inspired by the thoughts of Karl Marx and Lenin. It was founded in 1922, as the continuation of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1934 it established its youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile .In the last legislative elections in Chile...

, the Radical Party

Radical Party (Chile)

The Radical Party of Chile was a Chilean political party. It was formed in 1863 by a split in the Liberal Party. Not coincidently, it was formed shortly after the organization of the Grand Lodge of Chile, and it has maintained a close relationship with Chilean Freemasonry throughout its life...

, the Social Democratic Party, MAPU

Mapu

Mapu may refer to:*The Popular Unitary Action Movement or MAPU , a small leftist political party in Chile*The Horse stance, a martial arts position, is known as Mapu in the Chinese language...

 (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario) (and since 1972 the MAPU Obrero Campesino

MAPU Obrero Campesino

The MAPU Obrero Campesino was a leftist political party in Chile that was formed after a split of MAPU in March 1973...

 splinter group) and since 1971 Christian Left. It initially included the moderate Party of the Radical Left

Party of Social Democracy (Chile)

The Party of Social Democracy of Chile The Party of Social Democracy of Chile The Party of Social Democracy of Chile (Spanish: Partido Social Democracia de Chile (PSD), until August 1973 Radical Left Party (Partido de Izquierda Radical) was a Chilean political party of centre-left orientation,...

, that later joined opposition.

UP's leader, Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

, was a Marxist

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 who co-founded Chile's Socialist Party. His slight plurality in the election resulted in his confirmation as president by the National Congress of Chile

National Congress of Chile

The National Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile.The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811...

. The loose and conditional support from the Christian Democratic Party that made this confirmation possible soon disintegrated, as did centrism

Centrism

In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...

 of any viable kind in an atmosphere of increasing political polarization. The Revolutionary Left Movement

Revolutionary Left Movement (Chile)

Revolutionary Left Movement is a Chilean political party and former left-wing guerrilla organization founded on October 12, 1965...

 clashed with the conservative and establishment forces, while armed right-wing elements plotted to destabilize the government with support from the Nixon administration. The Unidad Popular coalition itself experienced political conflicts. Generally, the Communist Party, the Radical Party and later MAPU/OC advocated more cautious policies, whereas a part of the Socialist Party supported more radical changes and where often supported by MAPU and Christian Left.

In August 1973 the Christian Democrats cooperated with the right-wing National Party

National Party (Chile) (1966-1973)

See also National Party .The National Party of Chile was a Chilean political party formed by the union of the United Conservative Party, the United Liberal Party and the Partido Acción Nacional .It represented...

 in the congressional protest that set the stage for the Chilean coup of 1973

Chilean coup of 1973

The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist-leaning President Salvador Allende, discontent culminated in the latter's downfall in...

, the effective end of the UP government and —for 17 years— of democracy in Chile.

Signatories of the Pact of the Popular Unity

The Pact of the Popular Unity (Pacto de la Unidad Popular) was signed on 26 December 1969 in Santiago by following representatives of political parties:

• Luis Corvalán
  Luis Corvalán
  Luis Alberto Corvalán Lepe was a Chilean politician. He served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile ....
  
  , General Secretary of the Communist Party
• Aniceto Rodrígues, General Secretary of the Socialist Party
• Carlos Morales, President of the Radical Party
• Esteban Leyton, General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party
• Jaime Gazmuri, General Secretary of the Popular Unitary Action Movement
• Alfonso David Lebón, President of the Independent Popular Action