POLITICS: Uruguay’s Leftist Gov’t Expands New Regional Political Map

By Diana Cariboni Reprint | | Print |

Analysis by Diana Cariboni

MONTEVIDEO, Mar 1 2005 (IPS) - The inauguration of Uruguay’s new leftist government marks a watershed in the history of this small South American nation and completes a political map in the region that differs markedly from the neo-liberal scenario that prevailed in the 1990s.
     The sensation of change was colourfully visible Tuesday as tens of thousands of Uruguayans took to the streets of Montevideo to celebrate the historic occasion, which also marked the 20th anniversary of the restoration of democracy after the 1973-1985 military dictatorship.

The inauguration of Uruguay’s new leftist government marks a watershed in the history of this small South American nation and completes a political map in the southern cone region that differs markedly from the neo-liberal scenario that prevailed in the 1990s.

The sensation of change was colourfully visible Tuesday as tens of thousands of Uruguayans took to the streets of Montevideo, the capital, to celebrate the historic occasion, which also marked the 20th anniversary of the restoration of democracy after nearly 12 years of military dictatorship (1973-1985).

The feeling was also present in the speech by President Tabaré Vázquez after he was sworn in by José Mujica, the president of Congress, a former Tupamaro urban guerrilla.

The new Broad Front government in many ways marks a break with the country’s political past, although it also differs noticeably from other centre-left and left-wing governments in the region, like those of Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, with which it is expected to have more or less close ties.

Vázquez, a 65-year-old socialist physician and former mayor, promised in his 25-minute inaugural address to translate into reality his campaign pledge of "change".

The president recalled that 20 years after the end of the de facto military regime, "there are dark areas" in terms of human rights.

"For the good of all, it is necessary and possible to clarify these, within the framework of existing legislation, in order for peace to definitively take root in the hearts of all Uruguayans, and for the collective memory to incorporate the drama of the past, with its stories of sacrifice and tragedy," said the new president.

He was referring to article four of the amnesty law that put an end in the 1980s to legal prosecutions of those who committed human rights crimes during the dictatorship. That clause states that the executive branch must investigate the fate of the roughly 200 Uruguayans who were forcibly disappeared, most of them in Argentina.

Vázquez also mentioned pending questions in terms of "racial and gender equality, the rights of the child, the right to information, to culture, to a safe environment. These are also human rights that have to do with the quality of democracy."

In addition, the new president reiterated the concept of "more and better MERCOSUR" – the trade bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – which he described as "strategic" for this country.

But he underlined the right to strengthen relations with all nations, and said he would push for faster progress towards a trade agreement between the South American bloc and the European Union.

Vázquez repeated that his government would honour the country’s debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and private creditors, in the context of "relations based on respect and Uruguayan society’s right to development."

But "from the start of our government, it must be made very clear, and we say this with respect, but with the utmost steadfastness: we will not tolerate external meddling in our internal affairs. The decisions and problems of Uruguay will be resolved by Uruguayans," he added.

Vázquez put special importance on the agreements signed with the opposition parties on Feb. 16, in the areas of economy, foreign policy and education. But "it would be naive" to expect "miraculous effects" from these accords, he warned.

The reforms that this country needs cannot be carried out without "broad social pacts," he added.

The public’s high expectations of change and the demands by the different sectors will exercise considerable pressure on the new government.

Uruguay’s democracy successfully weathered the brutal economic crisis of 2002, but at an enormous social cost, with one million of the country’s 3.2 million people sliding into poverty.

The Broad Front government hopes to quickly negotiate a new agreement with the IMF, the new Economy Minister Danilo Astori said Monday. Uruguay’s foreign debt is nearly equivalent to its entire gross domestic product.

The administration will also implement a two-year emergency plan, with an annual budget of 100 million dollars, to address the food, health and educational needs of those living in extreme poverty, who are estimated to number just under 100,000.

In the medium-term, the administration hopes to correct society’s inequalities through a redistribution of public spending and the tax burden, and, above all, by attracting investment that would help create "more and better jobs", said Astori.

In the view of political scientist Jorge Lanzaro, the left is likely to adopt a policy of moderate reforms, without radical shifts.

"The left has not been impermeable to the neo-liberal cultural revolution, and has incorporated some of its elements, like the need for fiscal balance, open trade and competitiveness," he told IPS.

One thing that is clear is that the elites who hold the reins of power in the Uruguayan state will begin to radically change as of Tuesday.

The left not only holds the executive branch, has an absolute majority in both houses of Congress, and controls the powerful state enterprises, but will gradually replace those holding thousands of senior and mid-level posts in the public administration, which for more than 170 years have been the political territory of the outgoing – and severely weakened – Colorado Party, and, to a lesser extent, the Nacional Party.

This is one aspect that sets the new Uruguayan government apart from the experiences of neighbouring countries.

In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva governs with a shaky parliamentary coalition that includes factions practically at the other end of the political spectrum from the governing leftist Workers Party, which is merely the largest minority in the lower house of Congress.

Argentine President Néstor Kirchner, for his part, represents the political thinking of the centre-left wing of the Justicialista (Peronist) Party. Although the governing party has a majority in parliament, its centre-right faction led a conservative government in the 1990s that followed neo-liberal economic policies.

Nor can the centre-left coalition that has governed Chile since 1990 be compared to Uruguay’s Broad Front, which was founded in 1971 and has grown steadily since the return to democracy in 1985.

The strength of the Venezuelan government, meanwhile, is based on a social movement that revolves around a central figure, President Hugo Chávez, while the traditional party system has fallen apart and the country is caught up in extreme political polarisation.

But what the Uruguayan left shares with other left-leaning South American governments is the search for a path that differs from the one followed in the 1980s and 1990s, based on privatisations and the dismantling of the state. And it has made it to power with all of the attributes needed to find it.