Independent Democratic Union

The Independent Democratic Union (Unión Demócrata Independiente, UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with Augusto Pinochet. Guzmán was a senator from 1990 until his murder by communist guerrillas on April 1, 1991. Its ideological origins date back to Guzmán's Guildist Movement, born out of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1966, espousing the independence and depoliticization of intermediate bodies of civil society. The UDI is today a conservative political party with strong links to the Opus Dei, that opposes abortion in nearly all or all cases. UDI has for most of its history formed coalitions with National Renewal (RN) and other minor movements under different names such as; Participación y Progreso (1992), Unión por el Progreso de Chile (1993), Alliance for Chile (1999–2009, 2013), Coalition for Change (2009–2012) and Chile Vamos (2015–present). UDI was the largest political party in Congress between 2010 and 2014. The party has been part of the government coalition twice, from 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2022. The party has liberal-conservative and social-conservative factions. The social-conservative faction is characterised by its political work in poor sectors, while the liberal-conservative faction is characterised by its connections to Chile’s business class, its links to think tanks such as Libertad y Desarrollo (LyD), and its training of young political leaders, often students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC) such as Jaime Bellolio or Javier Macaya.