The People's Democratic Movement (, MDP) was a Chilean left-wing political party created on September 20, 1983 and dissolved on June 26, 1987. It was formed by the

Communist Party of Chile The Communist Party of Chile (, ) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile (, JJ.CC), in 1932. ...

, PS-Almeyda and the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), plus factions of the

Christian Left The Christian left, otherwise referred to as the religious left, is a range of Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel based on their interpreta ...

and the

Popular Unitary Action Movement The Popular Unitary Action Movement or MAPU () was a small Left-wing politics, leftist political party in Chile. It was part of the Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition during the government of Salvador Allende. MAPU was political rep ...

(MAPU). Its first president was the socialist

Manuel Almeyda Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

. The reason for its creation was to organize the leftist opposition to the military dictatorship. The MDP led the so-called "Jornadas de Protesta Nacional" driven by opposition to the military dictatorship of General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

, while actively involved in the reconstruction of the social movements of people, students and workers. The founding of the organization was sparked by the ''Appeal for Unity and Combat'' from 1982, signed by Clodomiro Almeyda (Socialist Party),

Luis Corvalán Luis Nicolás Corvalán Lepe (14 September 1916 – 21 July 2010) was a Chilean politician, teacher, and writer. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) for more than three decades and was twice elected to the Senate ...

(Communist Party), Andrés Pascal (MIR) and Anselmo Sule (a left-leaning radical, who was not authorized by his party). This document stated that the road for ending the military dictatorship was "''the struggle of the masses, the unity of the left and a development of the most diverse forms of combat which express the rebellious spirit of the people''". Since its inception the MDP showed himself a staunch opponent of the regime and demanded its immediate end and a general agreement with the Democratic Alliance to establish a provisional government without exclusions. In August 1984, politicians, lawyers, businessmen and civilians who supported the military regime, including

Jaime Guzmán Jaime Jorge Guzmán Errázuriz (June 28, 1946 – April 1, 1991) was a Chilean constitutional law professor, politician, and founding member of the conservative Independent Democratic Union party. In the 1960s, he strongly opposed the Universit ...

and

Pablo Longueira Juan Pablo Longueira Montes (born August 12, 1958) is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who served as Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism of Chile from 2011 to 2013. He was a founding me ...

, required the

Constitutional Court of Chile The Constitutional Court of Chile (''Tribunal Constitucional de Chile'' in Spanish) is Chile's constitutional court, constitutional tribunal. It is not part of the judicial branch and is functionally independent of the National Congress of Chile, ...

, which declared the unconstitutionality of this movement. Despite the ruling, the MDP continued subsisting in semi-clandestine. The MDP self-dissolved in June 1987 to create a new leftist coalition: United Left.

References

{{Reflist Communist Party of Chile Left-wing politics in Chile Defunct left-wing political party alliances Defunct political party alliances in Chile

See also

References