Independent Democratic Union - History

History

It was during the university strikes of 1960's when Jaime Guzmán, President of the Law Students Union at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile -who was against the protests and strikes, led by Christian-democrats and left-wing students- gathered a group of students and founded the Movimiento Gremial (Guildist Movement) and ran for the University's Student Union (Federación de Estudiantes) election. The movement quickly became one of the most important in the Catholic University, and won later the presidency of the University's Student Union.

Jaime Guzmán criticized liberal democracy and sought inspiration in authoritarian corporatism, proposing the principle of subsidiarity and to invigorate intermediate social movements, by the way that these were independent to develop their own specific purposes. Well into the government of Salvador Allende, some young members of the National Party and the Christian Democrats became part of the Guildist Movement.

Guzmán supported a military coup against Allende's government, which happened shortly thereafter on September 11, 1973 (see: Chilean coup of 1973). He was a close advisor of General Augusto Pinochet. Guzmán was later appointed a member of the Commission for the Study of the New Constitution, who worded the new constitution promulgated in 1980.

After the 1982 economic crisis, which caused the temporary removal of the "Chicago Boys" from cabinet, Guzmán moved away from the government and decided to found the movement he wanted, establishing it on September 24, 1983 under the name Independent Democratic Union Movement (Movimiento Unión Demócrata Independiente).

The emerging movement, a supporter of the military government, had (as opposed to the traditional right-wing political groups) a strong emphasis on the lower classes, in order to snatch the Marxist left its traditional domain of these. Amid the growing economic crisis of that time, UDI engaged in empowering leaders in countryside and peripheral neighbourhoods that would help extend its influence in the middle and low classes. One of them was Simon Yévenes, UDI member assassinated by left-wing terrorists April 2, 1986.

On April 29, 1987, the Independent Democratic Union merged with other related movements such as National Union Movement, led by Andres Allamand, and National Labour Front, led by Sergio Onofre Jarpa, plus some former members and supporters of the National Party and the Christian Democrats, to form the National Renewal party (RN), who managed briefly to unite all the right movements in the country. However, UDI members maintained its own identity in the new party, which caused a crisis in 1988, culminating in the resignation of all former UDI members to National Renewal. Allamand stayed in charge of National Renewal, while Jaime Guzman managed to register a new political party: Independent Democratic Union in 1989.

UDI strongly supported Pinochet's remaining in power in the Chilean national plebiscite, 1988. After the "Yes" option was defeated and presidential elections were announced, the UDI joined National Renewal and formed the "Democracy and Progress" alliance (Democracia y Progreso). Hernan Büchi, the former Minister of Finances under Pinochet, ran for president for this alliance. The alliance also ran a common Parliament list. The UDI's option lost the 1989 presidential election, this time against the center-left Concertación's leader, the Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin.