Popular Unity (Spanish: Unidad Popular or UP) was the coalition of Chilean political parties that coalesced behind the successful candidacy of Salvador Allende for the 1970 Chilean presidential election.
The coalition consisted of socialists, communists, radicals, and dissident Christian Democrats. It comprised most of the Chilean Left: the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Radical Party, the Social Democratic Party , and MAPU (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario).
Its leader, Salvador Allende, was a Marxist who co-founded Chile's Socialist Party. His slight plurality in the election resulted in his confirmation as president by the National Congress of Chile. The loose and conditional support from the Christian Democratic Party that made this confirmation possible soon disintegrated. In August 1973 the Christian Democrats cooperated with the right-wing National Party in the congressional protest that set the stage for the Chilean coup of 1973, the effective end of Popular Unity and (for 17 years) of democracy in Chile.
