The National Union Party ( es, Partido Unión Nacional) is the name of several

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, generally located on the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

. The first party using that name was led by

Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra (10 May 1844 – 15 April 1923) was a Nicaraguan-born President of Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in ...

as leader and candidate for the

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

and 1913 elections. Ibarra was liberal as most of the Costa Rican political elite at the time. The party also took part in the 1915 parliamentary election.

Carlos Durán Cartín Carlos Durán Cartín (1852-1924), a doctor of medicine who had trained in London, was acting President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President ...

was also candidate for the party in latter elections. Liberal journalist

Otilio Ulate Blanco Luis Rafael de la Trinidad Otilio Ulate Blanco (August 25, 1891 – October 10, 1973) served as President of Costa Rica from 1949 to 1953. His French heritage comes from his mother, Ermida Blanco. He never married but had two daughters, Olga Mar ...

took control of the party and was part of an oppositional alliance of parties against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate

Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

allegedly winning the election. The results were contested and latter annulled by the government causing the short-lived 48's

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Ulate's supporters won the war and name him

president-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...

(even when the military leader

José Figueres José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

took temporary control of the government with a de facto Junta) and a

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

was called to draft a new Constitution, with PUN winning most of the seats. Unable to participate in the 1953 election (the first since restoration of democracy) due to a very criticized decision from the

Electoral Tribunal An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

, it was until

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

that its candidate

Mario Echandi is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

would win the election, thanks in part to Calderon's support. Even when Echandi and Ulate were enemies of Calderon in the past, they joint forces against the now common enemy; Figueres’ party, PLN. Nevertheless, the following election Ulate's PUN and Calderón's PRN went separate postulating each of the parties’ leaders, splitting the opposition's vote and with PLN gaining triumph. PRN won more votes than PUN on that election. PUN and PRN agree to stand together in the 1966 election with a consensus candidate; college professor José Joaquín Trejos earning a very tight victory. PUN diminishes after this election never achieving power again. In 2005 Mario Echandi's nephew and former Costa Rican

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

José Manuel Echandi funded a party with the same name and was endorsed by his uncle, yet the party receive only 1.6% of the presidential vote and one legislative seat for Echandi himself. Echandi abandoned the party mid-term with mutual accusations of corruption among him and the party's National Committee. The party supported the candidacy of

Libertarian Movement In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of Conservatism in the United States, conservatism and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberalism in the United St ...

’s party

Otto Guevara Otto Guevara Guth (born 13 October 1960) is a politician in Costa Rica and founder of the Partido Movimiento Libertario (Libertarian Movement Party). He served in the Costa Rican legislature from 1998-2002 and 2014-2018. Guevara is currently the ...

for the 2014 election with party's president Arturo Acosta entering the campaign team.

References

{{Costa Rican political parties Political parties in Costa Rica