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Unidad Popular (UP) (English: "Popular Unity" or "People's Unity") was a coalition of 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, and MAPU (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario).

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 sympathy from the Nixon administration. 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.

[edit] See also

• Popular Front (Chile)
• Democratic Alliance (Chile)

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