El pueblo unido jamás será vencido

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El pueblo unido jamás será vencido ("The people united will never be defeated") is a quote originally given by the Colombian politician Jorge Gaitán, who was assassinated in 1948. It is also a song written by Sergio Ortega. It was later recorded by the Chilean group Quilapayún, and was used later during the Unidad Popular campaign and government times^[1].

However, it was especially after Pinochet's September 1973 coup that the group Inti-Illimani (also from Chile) made it famous around the world.

During the course of time the song has been used in various protests around the world, most of which have nothing to do with the Chilean coup or Latin America. The lyrics have been adapted or translated into many languages.

• In a more militant version, the phrase El pueblo unido jamás será vencido is changed in the last verse to El pueblo armado jamás será aplastado — "The people armed will never be crushed".

• In Iran, the melody was used for a revolutionary song with Persian lyrics, entitled "Barpakhiz" (in English "Stand up"), by the Iranian leftist activists during the Revolution against the monarchy in 1979.

• In the Philippines, the song was loosely translated by the progressive band Patatag for their song "Awit ng Tagumpay" (which translates to "Song of Victory"). It is sung during demonstrations.

• In 1975 Frederic Rzewski composed 36 piano variations on this song.

• In 2002 Russian singer Garik Sukachev used the phrase in his song "Svobodu Anjele Davis" ("freedom for Angela Davis").

• In 2004 this song was paraphrased in Ukrainian and sung during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.

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