The Anti-Communist Unification Party (, PUA) was a political party in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

History

The party was formed in 1948 in order to support the candidacy of

Francisco Javier Arana Francisco Javier Arana Castro (; 3 December 1905 – 18 July 1949) was a Guatemalan military leader and one of the three members of the revolutionary junta that ruled Guatemala from 20 October 1944 to 15 March 1945 during the early part of th ...

in the 1950 presidential elections.Robert J. Alexander (1982) ''Political parties of the Americas'', Greenwood Press, p422 However, Arana was killed after threatening to launch a coup in the build-up to the elections, having been considered the main rival to

Jacobo Árbenz Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th president of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, before he became the secon ...

of the

Revolutionary Action Party The Revolutionary Action Party (, PAR) was a leftist political party in Guatemala during the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution. Formed in 1945, the party went through a series of mergers and fractures before dissolving in 1954 after the United Stat ...

. The PUA ultimately joined the National Electoral Union (an alliance including the Democratic Unity Party and the National Democratic Reconciliation Party), which nominated

Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes José Miguel Ramón Ydígoras Fuentes (17 October 1895 – 27 October 1982) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 32nd president of Guatemala from 1958 to March 1963. He was also the main challenger to Jacobo Árben ...

as its candidate. Ydígoras finished second to Árbenz in the elections. The party later became part of the National Anti-Communist Front, supporting

Carlos Castillo Armas Carlos Castillo Armas (; 4 November 191426 July 1957) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957 after taking power in a coup d'état. A member of the far-right Nationa ...

. It won three seats in the 1955 parliamentary elections. In the 1958 general elections it was part of the alliance nominating José Luis Cruz Salazar, who finished as runner-up to Ydígoras. In the Congressional elections the PUA ran in an alliance with the Republican Party and

Guatemalan Christian Democracy Guatemalan Christian Democracy (, DCG) was a Christian democratic political party in Guatemala. The DCG was a member of Christian Democrat International.Peter Calvert (2004) ''A Political and Economic Dictionary of Latin America'', Routledge Hi ...

, with the three winning 20 of the 66 seats. It was dissolved after the 1963 coup. In 1983 the party was re-established by Lionel Sisniega Otero Barrios, a former member of the National Liberation Movement (MLN). Barrios had left the MLN after accusations that it was plotting a coup against

Ríos Montt Rios, Ríos or Riós are Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician surnames. The name has numerous origins. In Germany, Italy, France, UK, and the Americas the Ríos surname can also be found in the surname history books. The name was derived from the ...

.Ciarán Ó Maoláin (1985) ''Latin American Political Movements'', Facts on File Publications, p150 In the 1984 Constitutional Assembly elections the PUA received 4% of the vote and won one of the 88 seats. In the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

the following year it was one of three parties to nominate Otero as its presidential candidate; he finished last in a field of eight candidates with 2% of the vote. The three parties also ran together in the Congressional elections, failing to win a seat.

References

{{Guatemalan political parties Defunct political parties in Guatemala Political parties established in 1948 1948 establishments in Guatemala Anti-communism in Guatemala Anti-communist parties