National Unification Party (''Partido Unificación Nacional'') was a

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 ideological or p ...

in Costa Rica from 1966 to 1978. It was founded by

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (March 8, 1900 – June 9, 1970) was a Costa Rican medical doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944. Early life Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was born on 8 March 1900 in San José. In his ...

and

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 Ma ...

, and espoused

social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

Stebbins, Richard Poate and Amoia, Alba (eds.) (1970) ''Political handbook and atlas of the world, 1970: governments and intergovernmental organizations as of September 1, 1969, with supplementary data through January 1, 1970'' (Council on Foreign Relations) Simon and Schuster, New York, p. 74 and a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

. The party, was formed in reaction to the post

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 ...

success of the National Liberation Party. It was formed from the old National Republican Party, led by former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia and the National Union Party, headed by former president Otilio Ulate Blanco, joined by a few minor parties. Calderón Guardia quickly took control of the party. The party was highly

personalist Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...

, and sometimes the party was referred to as the Calderonistas. In the 1966 general elections, they won the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

with

José Joaquín Trejos Fernández José Joaquín Antonio Trejos Fernández (18 April 1916 10 February 2010) was 35th President of Costa Rica from 1966 to 1970. His parents were Juan Trejos Quirós and Emilia Fernández Aguilar. As a student he obtained degrees in mathematics and ...

, but were just shy of a majority in the Legislative Assembly winning 26 seats. In the 1970 elections they ran former president

Mario Echandi Jiménez Mario José Echandi Jiménez (17 June 1915 – 30 July 2011) was the 33rd President of Costa Rica, serving from 1958 to 1962. As diplomat Mario Echandi was a career diplomat. Prior to his election, he had served as Costa Rica's ambassador to ...

, but lost the presidency due to the return of the hero of the civil war, José Figueres Ferrer, nevertheless they managed to hold on to 22 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The death of Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia in 1970 weakened the party, even though his brother Francisco Calderón Guardia then took control.Staff (1977) ''Central America Report: 1977'' (an annual) Inforpress Centroamericana, Guatemala City, p. 229 In the 1974 elections they ran Fernando Trejos Escalante for president, but he was easily defeated by

Daniel Oduber Quirós Porfirio Ricardo José Luis Daniel Oduber Quirós (August 25, 1921 – October 13, 1991) was a Costa Rican politician, lawyer, philosopher, poet, and essayist. He served as the President of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. He is credited with the ...

, and altogether they won only 16 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Francisco Calderón Guardia died in 1977 which was the death knell for the party. Most of the original coalition left the party, including the Republicans and the National Union Party. The National Unification Party's last gasp was the 1978 elections where they ran Guillermo Villalobos Arce for president, but he lost and the party took no seats in the Legislative Assembly. The National Unification Party had already been replaced by the temporary Unity Coalition, which metamorphosed into the

Social Christian Unity Party The Social Christian Unity Party ( es, Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica. PUSC considers itself a Christian-democratic party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of Ameri ...

Notes

External links

Costa Rican Assembly members 1966-1978 for the National Unification Party
Official Costa Rican Assembly website, last accessed 1 December 2008, in Spanish Defunct political parties in Costa Rica {{CostaRica-party-stub