Radical Civic Union

The Radical Civic Union (Unión Cívica Radical, or UCR) is an opposition party in Argentina. The party embraces the liberal and social democratic space in Argentine politics, it joined Socialist International.\nAfter the 2001 elections it became the second largest party in the federal Chamber of Deputies, winning 71 out of 257 seats.\nIt campaigned in an alliance with the smaller Front for a Country in Solidarity.

Table of contents

1 A short history 2 See also 3 External Link

A short history

The Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) is the eldest still existing party in Argentina. It is founded in 1891 by radical liberals and was in power for 27 years. For the rest, the party was in opposition to the peronist government or illegal during military dictatorships. The party was a spin off of the Unión Civica, which led by Bartolomé Mitre und Leandro N. Alem tried in the "Revolución del Parque" to bring down president Juárez Celman. This attempt failed and the party found a compromise. The opponents of this compromise formed the UCR. One of the main successes of the party was the introduction in 1912 dof free, secret elections under universal suffrage. Between 1983 and 1989 its leader, Raúl Alfonsín, was the first democratic elected president after the military dictatorship. Alfonsín was succeeded by Carlos Menem of the peronist party. In 1997 the UCR forms together with the FrePaSo (Frente del País Solidario the centre left alliance Alianza para el Trabajo, la Justícia y la Educación. This alliance wins the 1999 elections, bringing Fernando de la Rúa to the presidency. His government collapsed in 2001 and De la Rúa had to flee the country.

See also

\nPolitics of Argentina, List of political parties in Argentina

External Link

\nOfficial web site \n\n\nCategory:Argentine political parties\nCategory:Liberal parties