Independent Democratic Union
Independent Democratic Union Unión Demócrata Independiente | |
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| Abbreviation | UDI |
| Leader | José Antonio Kast |
| President | Guillermo Ramírez |
| Secretary-General | Juan Antonio Coloma |
| Chief of Deputies | Flor Weisse |
| Chief of Senators | Gustavo Sanhueza |
| Founder | Jaime Guzmán |
| Founded | September 24, 1983 |
| Headquarters | Suecia 286, Providencia, Santiago de Chile |
| Youth wing | Nuevas Generaciones UDI |
| Membership (2026) | 30,812 (7th) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right |
| National affiliation | Chile Vamos (since 2015) Chile Grande y Unido (since 2025) |
| International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
| Regional affiliation | Union of Latin American Parties |
| Colours | Blue, White and Yellow |
| Chamber of Deputies | 18 / 155 |
| Senate | 5 / 50 |
| Regional boards | 37 / 302 |
| Mayors | 22 / 345 |
| Communal Councils | 173 / 2,252 |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Part of a series on |
| Conservatism in Chile |
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The Independent Democratic Union (Spanish: Unión Demócrata Independiente, UDI) is a conservative and right-wing to far-right political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician, law professor and senator Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with Augusto Pinochet.
Its ideological origins date back to Guzmán's Guildist Movement, born out of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1966, espousing the independence and depoliticization of intermediate bodies of civil society. The UDI is today a conservative political party with strong links to the Opus Dei, that opposes abortion in nearly all or all cases.
UDI has for most of its history formed coalitions with National Renewal (RN) and other minor movements under different names such as; Participación y Progreso (1992), Unión por el Progreso de Chile (1993), Alliance for Chile (1999–2009, 2013), Coalition for Change (2009–2012) and Chile Vamos (2015–present). UDI was the largest political party in Congress between 2010 and 2014. The party has been part of the government coalition twice, from 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2022.
The party has liberal-conservative and social-conservative factions. The social-conservative faction is characterised by its political work in poor sectors, while the liberal-conservative faction is characterised by its connections to Chile's business class, its links to think tanks such as Libertad y Desarrollo (LyD), and its training of young political leaders, often students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC) such as Jaime Bellolio or Javier Macaya.