Popular Unity (, UP), also known as Popular Unity for Socialism (, UPS), is a Brazilian political party founded on 16 June 2016, which had its right to launch candidacies recognized by the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court (, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Election Justice, Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court (Brazil), Regional Electoral Court (, TRE) in each of the 26 states and th ...

(TSE) on 10 December 2019. As a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

party, it is connected to homeless workers' movements and defends the nationalization of the banking system, social control of all monopolies, capitalist consortia, and the means of production at-large, as well as rural

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

and collectivization. In the

2018 Brazilian general election General elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress of Brazil, National Congress and Governor (Brazil), state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election (and for the gubernatorial electi ...

, Popular Unity supported the

Socialism and Liberty Party The Socialism and Liberty Party (, ; PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Paula Coradi and the federal deputies Ivan Valente, Talíria Petrone, Sâmi ...

presidential bid of Guilherme Boulos and Sônia Guajajara. Its first National Congress was held in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

from 23 to 24 March 2019. Its slogan is "party of the poor, with the poor, and for the poor". On 10 December 2019, the TSE approved the party's registration and assigned the number 80 for pollings.

History

Electoral Registration Process

Other movements, such as the Revolutionary Communist Party's Union of Rebellion Youth (UJR), the Movement of Struggle in the Neighborhoods, Vilas and Slums (MLB), the Class Struggle Movement, and the Olga Benário Women's Movement (MMOB) have joined the registration efforts. The collection of signatures of support for registration of the party before the TSE was started in 2014. According to paragraph 2 of article 7 of TSE Resolution 23,465, the minimum support must correspond to at least 0.5% of the votes cast in the last general election for the Chamber of Deputies (approximately 500,000), not counting blank and invalid votes, distributed in one third, or more, of the states, with a minimum of 0.1% of the electorate that voted in each state. As of 27 October 2018, it had over 418,000 validated signatures of support. According to the organization, more than a million support forms were filled out. The party's statute was published in the ''

Diário Oficial da União The ''Diário Oficial da União'' (literally ''Official Diary of the Union''), abbreviated DOU, is the government gazette, official gazette of the Federal Government of Brazil, Federal Government of Brazil. It is published since 1 October 1862 a ...

'' on 3 September 2014, signed by its president, Leonardo Péricles Vieira Roque, coordinator of the Movement of Struggle in Bairros, Vilas and Favelas (MLB). Its symbol is three raised fists, symbolizing unity of action and

democratic centralism Democratic centralism is the organisational principle of most communist parties, in which decisions are made by a process of vigorous and open debate amongst party membership, and are subsequently binding upon all members of the party. The co ...

, on a black or white background on which are written the name and the acronym of the organization. Since 2014, the party's popularity has progressively increased among students and organized labor, acquiring national expression from its opposition to the government of

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 1 January 2019. He took office after the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impe ...

, and then to

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election. In the 2018 election, UP, still unable to field a presidential candidate, declared its support for the presidential candidacy of Guilherme Boulos and his running mate Sônia Guajajara, an electoral slate launched by the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL). According to the organization, the support for the slate is due to the fact that it is "the only one willing to adopt the and repeal the measures of lesa-patria of

's government, among them the Labor Reform and the ." Its first congress was held in Belo Horizonte on 23–24 March, 2019. Its slogan is "party of the poor, with the poor, and for the poor". The party's application for registration was filed with the

in August 2019 and approved on December 10 of the same year. The party was given the number 80 for voting at the polls.

2020 municipal elections

The 2020 Brazilian municipal elections were the first that the party participated in. According to the party's national president, Leonardo Péricles, the party's plan was to launch the maximum number of candidates for mayor in the main Brazilian capitals in 2020.

Besides its own candidacies, the party joined the coalition of the PSOL candidate in Porto Alegre, federal deputy Fernanda Melchionna. Previously, the party had considered launching Priscila Voigt as a candidate. In Rio de Janeiro, UP supported the candidacy of Rio de Janeiro state representative Renata Souza. In São Paulo the Popular Unity joined the PSOL coalition supporting the candidacy of Guilherme Boulos with the vice candidate

Luiza Erundina Luiza Erundina de Sousa (; November 30, 1934) is a Brazilian politician, born in Uiraúna, a small city in the interior of the Brazilian state of Paraíba. Political history From 1980 to 1997, she was affiliated with the Workers' Party (Brazil ...

. In Belo Horizonte, the party's national president, Leonardo Péricles, was a candidate for vice-mayor in the slate of federal deputy Áurea Carolina (PSOL). In Florianópolis, the party was part of the Popular Front, together with PSOL, PT, PDT, PCdoB, PSB and REDE, as well as the organizations PCLCP and UCB. In Belém, the party was part of the coalition of the elected PSOL candidate, Edmilson Rodrigues. For the elections, the party received R$1.2 million (US$ ) from the . During the 2020 municipal elections, Popular Unity was the Brazilian political party with the highest proportional number of black candidates, by virtue of 70% (seventy percent) of its candidates for mayor and councilor being black men and women.

2022 presidential election

On 14 November 2021, Leonardo Péricles had his nomination confirmed as a pre-candidate in the 2022 Brazilian presidential election. At the same event, he was also elected as national president of the party.

Ideology

The party is linked to movements that work in defense of

subsidized housing Subsidized housing is a subsidy aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include d ...

and defends the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of the banking system,

social control Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social con ...

of all capitalist

monopolies A monopoly (from Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable sub ...

and consortia and of the

means of production In political philosophy, the means of production refers to the generally necessary assets and resources that enable a society to engage in production. While the exact resources encompassed in the term may vary, it is widely agreed to include the ...

in the strategic sectors of the economy, and

agrarian reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

. In addition, the party is also in favor of subjecting judges and magistrates to electoral sifting and of nationalizing

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ation. The party advocates socialist ideals and the overcoming of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, and fighting international

financial capital Financial capital (also simply known as capital or equity in finance, accounting and economics) is any Economic resources, economic resource measured in terms of money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their prod ...

and the privileges of the

wealthy Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...

. According to its national president, Leonardo Péricles:

Electoral history

Presidential election

Legislative elections

References

External links

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Party program
{{Brazilian political parties 2019 establishments in Brazil Anti-capitalist political parties Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-racist organizations Left-wing politics in Brazil Political parties established in 2019 Socialist parties in Brazil