Unidad Popular

Unidad Popular (UP) (English: "Popular Unity" or "People's Unity") was a coalition of left wing, socialist and communist political parties in Chile that stood behind the successful candidacy of Salvador Allende for the 1970 Chilean presidential election.

Succeeding to the FRAP left-wing coalition, it comprised most of the Chilean Left: the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Radical Party, the Social Democratic Party, MAPU (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario) (and since 1972 the MAPU Obrero Campesino splinter group) and since 1971 Christian Left. It initially included the moderate Party of the Radical Left, that later joined opposition.

UP's leader, Salvador Allende, was a Marxist 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. The loose and conditional support from the Christian Democratic Party that made this confirmation possible soon disintegrated, as did centrism of any viable kind in an atmosphere of increasing political polarization. The Revolutionary Left Movement 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 were often supported by MAPU and Christian Left.

In August 1973 the Christian Democrats cooperated with the right-wing National Party in the congressional protest that set the stage for the Chilean coup of 1973, the effective end of the UP government and —for 17 years— of democracy in Chile.