The Union of the Democratic Centre ( es, Unión del Centro Democrático, UCD or UCeDé) is a

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 ...

conservative-liberal and

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalis ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It was founded in 1982 by

Álvaro Alsogaray Álvaro Carlos Alsogaray (22 June 1913 – 1 April 2005) was an Argentine politician and economist. He was Minister of Economy and was the principal proponent of classical liberalism in Argentina. He founded the Union of the Democratic Centr ...

who unsuccessfully run in the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and 1989 presidential elections, and represented the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

elite,

technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

, and

classical liberals Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic ...

. As of October 2020 the party doesn't count with legal recognition nationwide.

History

The leader of the party,

, was a national deputy for the

City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

for sixteen consecutive years, between 1983 and 1999. In 1983 and 1989 he was a candidate for the presidency, and then appointed ad hoc presidential advisor to

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

. By 1989, the UceDé had emerged as the third political force nationwide, after the traditional major parties: the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

(PJ) and the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the So ...

(UCR).

, an exponent of the growing pro-market wing within the formerly

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

PJ, won the election of 1989. UCeDé concluded an alliance with the Justicialist-led administration which had only a narrow majority in the Chamber of Deputies and gave important support to its policies of privatization and liberal economic reforms. Alsogaray, who had been an opponent of traditional Peronism, became the administration's chief policy advisor and his daughter María Julia secretary of natural resources and the main responsible for the privatization of the public telecommunications company

ENTel The ''Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones'' (National Telecommunications Enterprise, or ENTel) was an Argentine state owned company which had the monopoly on public telecommunications in the country until its privatization in 1990. Overview It ...

. In the subsequent presidential election, the UCeDé endorsed

. In 2007, UCeDe participated in the Union PRO

alliance to dispute the governorship of the

province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, supporting the opposition formula

Francisco de Narváez Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in Bogotá), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Republican Proposal, Unión PR ...

Jorge Macri Jorge Macri (born 5 March 1965) is an Argentine politician who is the incoming Chief of Government of Buenos Aires, and currently serves as Minister of Government of Buenos Aires since 2021. He is the cousin of former president Maurcio Macri. P ...

. Union PRO finished in third place, with 14.96% of the votes. The coalition would also last for the 2009 legislative elections, where the party also supported the candidacy of

as national deputy. Narvaez was 34% winner, beating former President

Nestor Kirchner Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...

. In 2011, he participated in the

Federal Commitment Federal Commitment is an Peronist political party in Argentina formed by the fusion of Es Posible Party and the Independent Movement of Justice and Dignity. The party is currently part of the governing Everyone’s Front coalition of Presiden ...

Alliance supporting the presidential formula

Alberto Rodríguez Saá Alberto José Rodriguez Saá (born August 21, 1949) is an Argentine lawyer and politician. He is the Governor of San Luis Province. He was presidential candidate for the center-right peronism, Federal Peronism, in 2007 and 2011. The Rodrigue ...

José María Vernet José María Vernet (born February 24, 1944) is an Argentine politician of the Justicialist Party. He served as Governor of Santa Fe from 1983 to 1987. Life and times Vernet was born in Rosario. He enrolled at the National University of Có ...

. In March 2015, the UCeDé of the

established an electoral alliance with the

Republican Proposal Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...

(PRO) and supported

Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...

for Head of Government in the election of that same year. Later, the UCeDé of the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

decided to join the

Cambiemos ( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and ...

alliance and supported

María Eugenia Vidal María Eugenia Vidal (born 8 September 1973) is an Argentine politician who served as Governor of the Buenos Aires Province, being the first woman in the office, and the first non- Peronist since 1987. A member of Republican Proposal (PRO), she ...

for

Governor of Buenos Aires The Governor of Buenos Aires Province ( es, Gobernador de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) is a citizen of the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, holding the office of governor for the corresponding period. The governor is elected alongside a vic ...

in the election of that same year. For many years, UCeDé supported the center-right Peronist,

José Manuel de la Sota José Manuel de la Sota (28 November 1949 – 15 September 2018) was an Argentine politician who was a member of Justicialist Party. He was the governor of Córdoba Province from 1999 until 2007, and was reelected to the post for the 2011–15 ...

in the Province of Córdoba, but in 2015 he joined Juntos by Córdoba and won second place led by the radical

Oscar Aguad Oscar Raúl Aguad (born May 7, 1950) is an Argentine politician who served as the Minister of Defense from 2017 to 2019, serving in the cabinet of President Mauricio Macri. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2005 to 2015, where he ...

. For the 2019 presidential elections, he managed to reshape 5 districts necessary to obtain national status and decided to join the Awakening Front, led by economist José Luis Espert, who finished in the last position with 1.5% of the votes.

Electoral performance

President

Notes

References

External links