The Centrist Democrat International (Spanish: Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democraticpolitical international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International. This earlier name is still sometimes used colloquially.
The CDI was formed in 1961 in Santiago, Chile, as the Christian Democrat World Union, building on the legacy of other Christian democrat internationals which were an alternative to the socialist internationals who tried to create a Christian-inspired third way. In 1999, it was renamed the Centrist Democrat International due to the participation of groups from other religions such as the Islamic National Awakening Party (PKB) of Indonesia.
The September 2001 leadership conference in Mexico City changed the organization's name to Centrist Democrat International, retaining its original CDI acronym. References to religion were not allowed in many Asian and African countries, and the CDI would not have been able to extend into Asia and Africa without a name change.[2]
December 1925: The first international gathering of Catholic-Christian democratic parties takes place in Paris, establishing the Secrétariat International des Partis Démocratiques d'Inspiration Chrétienne (SIPDIC). Member parties were from Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, and Lithuania.
23 April 1947: Political leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay meet in Montevideo to create an international organization of Christian democratic parties. Representatives from Bolivia and Peru participate via diplomatic correspondence. The Declaration of Montevideo establishes the Organización Demócrata Cristiana de América (ODCA), although the name is not formalized until their second meeting in July 1949.
3 June 1947: European Christian Democrats form the Nouvelles Équipes Internationales (NEI) in Chaudfontaine, Belgium, prompted by the Swiss a year before restarting the SIPDIC. The NEI, open to non-Catholic parties who subscribed to the principles of social democracy, sees European integration as the best way to prevent the spread of communism into western Europe and encourages exile groups from Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia to attend. The NEI plays a significant role in preparations for the Hague Congress and the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community.
26 July 1950: The Christian Democratic Union of Central Europe (CDUCE) is formed in New York City to assist Christian democratic parties in exile by organizing forces in opposition to communism. By 1955, it begins working with underground operatives in the Soviet bloc while trying to coordinate efforts between European and Latin American Christian Democratic parties.
May and July 1956: The ODCA, NEI, and CDUCE meet for the first time in Paris at a gathering of 33 delegations from 28 countries to discuss the creation of a global Christian democratic organization.
1960: The three regional Christian democratic organizations establish the Christian Democratic International Information and Documentation Centre (CDI-IDC) in Rome to provide political analyses for Christian democratic parties around the world.
1961: The World Union of Christian Democrats (WUCD) is established in Santiago.
1982: The WUCD changes its name to the Christian Democrat International (CDI).
1999: The CDI changes its name to the Centrist Democrat International due to the increasing membership of non-Christian political parties. Since October 2000, some have informally referred to the CDI as the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International.
CDI member parties are generally members of the ODCA or the European People's Party (EPP, the successor of NEI).
Executive committee
The CDI executive committee consists of the president, executive secretary, and vice-presidents. The president is Andrés Pastrana Arango of Colombia and the executive secretary is MEPAntonio López-Istúriz of Spain, who is also secretary-general of the EPP.[3]
