Partido Radical (Chile)

Manuel Antonio Matta, founder of the Radical Party of Chile

The Radical Party ( Partido Radical ) was a political party in Chile that existed from 1863 to 1994 . It emerged from the radical wing of the Chilean Liberal Party and united with the Social Democrats in 1994.

history

The forerunner of the radical movement was the "Society for Equality" ( Sociedad de la Igualdad ) founded in 1850 , a liberal political circle that consisted primarily of the younger generation of middle-class intellectuals trained in Europe .

The party was founded under the leadership of Manuel Antonio Matta by a platform of opposition and government-critical parliamentarians that had emerged within the liberal faction , which was also joined by the charismatic Social Revolutionary Pedro León Gallo , who lived in exile until 1863 . The first Radical Electoral Congress ( Asamblea Radical Electoral ) on December 27, 1863 in Copiapó is considered the foundation date . This was preceded by the founding of the magazine La Voz de Chile (“The Voice of Chiles”) in May 1862, which was able to inspire a broad public for the main demands of radicalism : abolition of the church school system, universal suffrage , decentralization of the administration, which was then authoritarian by the president was made public participation in policy-making and reform the Chilean Constitution of the 1,833th

In the early days, the goal pursued by the radicals of a sharp separation between church and state and the passionately advocated demand for the radical repressing of the political and social influence of the Catholic Church played the most important role in the public debate. The new party saw itself primarily as the mouthpiece of the left-liberal, secular and anti-clerical bourgeoisie, which formed the majority of the rising bourgeoisie in Chile and faced a conservative, reactionary ecclesiastical and political leadership. Later the party also attracted the lower middle classes in the rapidly growing cities and added the demand for a welfare state to its program . In the elections in 1918, the Radical Party became the country's second strongest political force and played a key role in the formation of various governments until the 1960s.

The following presidents of Chile belonged to the Radical Party: Juan Esteban Montero (1931/32), Pedro Aguirre Cerda (1938–41), Juan Antonio Ríos (1942–46) and Gabriel González Videla (1946–52). Montero and Ríos in particular were very controversial within the party because of their role during the dictatorial regimes of Presidents Carlos Ibáñez and Carlos Dávila and because of their proximity to right-wing circles. Both had held ministerial posts in authoritarian governments, and Ríos had even been excluded from the party for years in the 1930s and often tried to limit his party's influence on government policy during his reign.

The Radical Party worked closely with the socialist parties and was a member of the Socialist International . She took part in the electoral alliances Frente Popular (" Popular Front ") of 1936 and Unidad Popular ("People's Unity") of 1969. Its candidate Salvador Allende emerged victorious in the 1970 presidential election and ruled until the 1973 military coup . The Radical Party belonged to the moderate wing of the Unidad Popular, but officially committed itself to socialism , historical materialism and class struggle in 1972 .

When it merged with the Social Democratic Party of Chile ( Partido Socialdemócrata de Chile ), which was founded in 1973 by supporters of moderate center-left politics, the Radical Party became part of the “ Radical and Social Democratic Party ” ( Partido Radical Social Demócrata ) (PRSD), which sees itself as a party of the center-left and currently has five members of parliament and four senators in the Chilean National Congress .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ declaración político ideológica aprobada en la XXV Convención Nacional del Partido Radical de Chile. [1972] Available at www.nuso.org (PDF; 139 kB)

See also: Political System of Chile