Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay

The Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay (Partido Demócrata Cristiano del Uruguay) is a political party of the Christian left.

History
The party was established in 1911 as the Civic Union, having developed out of the Catholic Party that contested the 1910 elections. In February 1962 it was renamed the Christian Democratic Party. A faction broke away in 1966, initially running under the name Christian Civic Movement, before becoming the Christian Radical Union, and later reclaiming the Civic Union name.

According to a 1956 study, the Civic Union "rejected the concept of statism involved in what it claimed was "Colorado Socialism," although it was willing to accept subsidiary intervention by the State to achieve ends of social justice." Another study noted how the Civic Union "always has been concerned with the welfare of rural Uruguay, and has made concrete legislative contributions to the comparatively few sound policies which have been adopted in that field."

Affiliation
It is part of the governing coalition Broad Front (Frente Amplio). It is a part of the Progressive Alliance, which in turn forms part of the Liber Seregni Front uniting the more moderate centre-left and centrist sectors of the Broad Front.

Programme
Its platform calls for "a communitarian society" and a "social state", as well as "absolute respect for human life" (including opposition to abortion). It further calls for "alternative forms of production, distribution, consumption and accumulation" that are "superior to capitalist and state-owned enterprises", including:


 * a social market economy
 * cooperatives
 * self-management or self-governing enterprises (autogestión)
 * ecological economics
 * respect for the commons
 * support for the nonprofit sector