National Unity of Hope

Last updated
National Unity of Hope
Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza
AbbreviationUNE
Leader Sandra Torres
Spokesperson Édgar Rosales
Founded6 September 2002 (2002-09-06)
Split from New Nation Alternative
Membership (2023)89,696 [1]
Ideology Populism [2]
Social conservatism [2]
Historical:
Social democracy [3]
Christian left [4]
Political position Centre-right [5] [6] [7] to right-wing [8] [9] [10]
Historical:
Centre [11] [12] [6] [13] to left-wing [14]
Regional affiliation Center-Democratic Integration Group
Continental affiliation COPPPAL (Observer)
International affiliation Socialist International [15]
Colors  Green
Seats in Congress
28 / 160
Website
www.une.org.gt OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The National Unity of Hope (Spanish : Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, UNE) is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defined itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party, but since transformed and is now described as a right-wing party. It is the largest political party in Guatemala by the number of members.

Contents

Ideology

At the time of its founding in 2002, it defined itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party, but has gradually shifted to the right wing. It opposes lifting abortion and same-sex marriage bans in the country. However, it supports social programs aimed at uplifting the "forgotten" poor of the country. [16]

2003 election

At the legislative elections held on November 9, 2003, the party won 17.9% of the popular vote and 32 out of 158 seats in Congress. Its presidential candidate Álvaro Colom won 26.4% in the presidential elections on the same day and was defeated in the second round, when he received 45.9%.

2007 election

For the 2007 elections, the party again chose Colom as its presidential candidate. He came in first place with 28% of the vote; in the Legislative Election, the party won 22.8% of the vote and 48 seats in Congress, more than any other party. On November 4, 2007, in the second round of the election, Colom was elected President of Guatemala. It would mark the first time since 1954 that Guatemala had a left wing government. [17]

2011 election

In the 2011 elections, the Constitutional Court ruled out the candidacy of Colom's ex-wife, Sandra Torres, thus making it the first time in the history of the elections that an official ruling party did not present presidential and vice-presidential candidacies.

2015 election

In the 2015 elections held on September 6, 2015, the National Unity of Hope won 19.76% of the vote in the first round and 27 seats in Congress. In the second round (run-off) Presidential candidate Sandra Torres placed second in the presidential race with 32.56% of the vote, eventually losing in the October 25 run-off to Jimmy Morales of the National Convergence Front (FCN/Nation).

2019 election

In the 2019 elections held on June 16, 2019, the party again chose Sandra Torres as its presidential candidate. She came in first place in the first round with 25.54% of the vote but lost the second round on August 11, 2019 with 42.05% of the vote to Alejandro Giammattei of the Vamos party; in the Legislative Election, the UNE party won 54 seats in Congress, more than any other party.

2023 election

The National Unity of Hope had an internal division between deputies opponents and supporters of Sandra Torres in 2020, caused by Torres's accusations of corruption and poor electoral results in 2019, as well as her support for the government of Alejandro Giammattei. A faction opposing Torres removed her as leader and expelled her from the party in 2021. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled in favor of Torres and allowed her to continue as party leader. [18] A few days after the decision of the electoral court, the opposition group to Sandra Torres announced its resignation from the National Unity of Hope, to found the "Parliamentary Opposition Group", in reference to its parliamentary opposition to the Giammattei government. [19]

The Parliamentary Opposition Group approached the Will, Opportunity and Solidarity political party. [20]

After Torres' new electoral defeat, the National Unity of Hope suffered another split in early 2024, when a group of more than 20 members of Congress led by Adim Maldonado (who was Torres's right-hand man in the 2023 campaign) and José Inés Castillo agreed to join a legislative agreement with the government of Bernardo Arévalo. [21] Torres tried to expel Maldonado and Castillo but the decision was annulled by the new legislative majority and she lose control of the legislative bench. [22]

In July 2024, José Inés Castillo resumed his alliance with Torres and began to dispute with Adim Maldonado for the leadership of the party in Congress. Maldonado would have between 15 and 16 members of Congress on his side, while Castillo and Torres have between 12 and 13 deputies in their favor. With this, Torres once again consolidated her leadership within the party. [23]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

ElectionCandidatesFirst roundSecond roundStatus
PresidentVice PresidentVotes %Votes %
2003 Álvaro Colom Fernando Andrade707,57826.361,046,86845.87LostRed x.svg
2007 Rafael Espada 926,23628.251,449,53352.81WonGreen check.svg
2011 [lower-alpha 1] Sandra Torres Roberto Díaz-DuránDisqualified
2015 Mario Leal948,80919.761,328,34232.56LostRed x.svg
2019 Carlos Raúl Morales 1,112,93925.421,384,04442.05LostRed x.svg
2023 Romeo Guerra 881,59220.981,567,66439.09LostRed x.svg
  1. ↑ Candidate supported also by Grand National Alliance.

Legislative elections

ElectionVotes %Seats+/–Status
2003 457,30817.92
32 / 158
NewOpposition
2007 720,28522.84
51 / 158
Increase2.svg 20Government
2011 [lower-alpha 1] 985,61022.47
48 / 158
Decrease2.svg 4Opposition
2015 676,08014.83
32 / 158
Decrease2.svg 16Opposition
2019 717,20417.81
54 / 160
Increase2.svg 22External support
2023 538,01012.90
28 / 160
Decrease2.svg 26Opposition
(Torres's faction)
External support
(Maldonado's faction)
  1. ↑ Run in coalition with Grand National Alliance.


Notes

    Related Research Articles

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardo Arévalo</span> President of Guatemala since 2024

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Conde Orellana</span> Guatemalan politician

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    References

    1. ↑ "Estadísticas de Afiliados a Partidos Políticos".
    2. 1 2 "Elecciones Guatemala 2023: Análisis del Sistema Político y Electoral" (PDF) (in Spanish). Revista Jurídica Auctoritas Prudentium. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
    3. ↑ "Regierung Guatemalas ohne Präsidentschaftskandidaten" (in German). Abendzeitung. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
    4. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2015/564395/EPRS_ATA%282015%29564395_EN.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
    5. ↑ La Platicadita con Sandra Torres. YouTube. Guatemala: El Bencho. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
    6. 1 2 "Estos son los candidatos favoritos que lucharán por la Presidencia de Guatemala". France 24 . Retrieved 2023-06-23.
    7. ↑ "Balotaje en Guatemala: el TSE apunta a segunda vuelta entre Sandra Torres y Bernardo Arévalo". France 24. 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
    8. ↑ Abbott, Jeff. "Concerns over Guatemalan democracy after leading party suspended". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
    9. ↑ "Guatemala: Bernardo Arevalo ends 12 years of right-wing domination". Le Monde.fr. 2023-08-21. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
    10. ↑ Loaiza, Melissa Velásquez (2023-08-16). "ANÁLISIS | El voto nulo en Guatemala fue una protesta contra el sistema, según expertos. ¿Podría serlo en la segunda vuelta?". CNN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-14.
    11. ↑ "Former First Lady Leads In 1st Round Of Voting In Guatemala Presidential Election". National Public Radio. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
    12. ↑ "Former first lady leads in Guatemala election". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 17 June 2019.
    13. ↑ "Guatemala election: former first lady Sandra Torres heads for runoff". The Guardian. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
    14. ↑ "Guatemala swears in leftist president". NBC News. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
    15. ↑ "Socialist International".
    16. ↑ "Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres leans on conservative values, opposing gay marriage". AP News. 2023-08-12. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
    17. ↑ Transparency International e.V. "publications/newsletter/2008/January 2008/interview". Archived from the original on 2016-03-25.
    18. ↑ "TSE ordena que Sandra Torres asuma nuevamente el cargo de secretaria general del Partido UNE". Guatevisión (in Spanish). 12 October 2021.
    19. ↑ "Grupo de diputados presenta el Grupo Parlamentario de Oposición". Prensa Libre (in Spanish). 4 November 2021.
    20. ↑ "VOS-GPO denuncia bloqueo de Giammattei, Torres y el TSE". La Hora (in Spanish). 15 November 2022.
    21. ↑ "Semilla en alianza con seis partidos dirigirá el Congreso". Prensa Comunitaria (in Spanish). 14 January 2024.
    22. ↑ "¡Divisiones! La UNE expulsa a diputados, pero ellos se niegan a irse". SOY502 (in Spanish). 10 January 2024.
    23. ↑ "Inés Castillo se distancia de Adim Maldonado y regresa con Sandra Torres". República (in Spanish). 11 July 2024.
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