Radical Civic Union Party
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Radical Civic Union
Unión Cívica Radical |
|
|---|---|
 |
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| President | José Corral |
| Founded | June 26, 1891 |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Membership (2012) | 2,270,665 (2nd) |
| Ideology |
Radicalism Social liberalism Social democracy Centrism |
| Political position | Centre to Centre-left |
| National affiliation | Cambiemos |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Colors | Red, White |
| Seats in the Chamber of Deputies |
40 / 257
|
| Seats in the Senate |
12 / 72
|
| Website | |
| http://www.ucr.org.ar/ | |
The Radical Civic Union (Spanish: Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist social-liberal political party in Argentina. The party has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from classical liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International.
Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina after the Liberal Party of Corrientes. For many years the party was either in opposition to Peronist governments or illegal during military rule. The UCR's main support comes from the middle class. Throughout its history the party has stood for free elections, supremacy of civilians over the military and liberal democratic values. Especially during the 1970s and 1980s it was perceived as a strong advocate for human rights. By May 2014, the UCR had 42 Deputies and 14 Senators.
The party was a breakaway from the Civic Union, which was led by Bartolomé Mitre and Leandro Alem. The term 'radical' in the party's name referred to its demand for universal male suffrage, which was considered radical at the time, when Argentina was ruled by an exclusive oligarchy and government power was allocated behind closed doors. The party unsuccessfully led an attempt to force the early departure of President Miguel Juárez Celman in the Revolution of the Park (Revolución del Parque). Eventually a compromise was reached with Juárez Celman's government. Hardliners who opposed this agreement founded the current UCR, led by Alem's nephew, the young and charismatic Hipólito Yrigoyen. In 1893 and 1905 the party led unsuccessful revolutions to overthrow the government. With the introduction of free, fair and confidential voting in elections based on universal adult male suffrage in 1912 the Party managed to win the general elections of 1916, when Hipólito Yrigoyen became president. As well as backing more popular participation, UCR's platform included promises to tackle the country's social problems and eradicate poverty. Yrigoyen's presidency however turned out to be rather dictatorial; he refused to cooperate with the Congress and UCR in government fell short of the democratic expectations it had raised when in opposition. The Radical Civic Union remained in power during the next 14 years: Yrigoyen was succeeded by Marcelo T. de Alvear in 1922 and again by himself in 1928. The first coup in Argentina's modern history occurred on September 6, 1930 and ousted an aging Yrigoyen amid an economic crisis resulting from the United States' Great Depression.
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