Uruguay Elects Broad Front (Frente Amplio) Candidate as President
José Alberto Mujica, (Pepe), is the newly elected President of Uruguay, and for many Uruguayan’s his selection is just reward for Mujicas' 50 dedicated and arduous years at the coal-face of his country’s struggle for socialist reform.
The charismatic Mr Mujica (74), (a former Tupamaros guerrilla) will succeed the current President and fellow Broad Front (FA, Frente Amplio) coalition party member, Tabaré Vázquez, in March 2010, The smooth transition of power was assured by the selection of former Economy Minister Danilo Astori as the vice presidential candidate. In a tightly fought runoff election, with captivated the Uruguayan nation, Mujica returned 53 percent of the electorate compared to 43 percent for former President, Luis Alberto Lacalle, of the National Party.
His sweep to victory was aided by the success story of the current President Tabaré Vázquez, who has a current approval rating among the electorate stands at 70%. His government has been internationally accredited with navigating Uruguay’s economy through the unchartered waters of the ongoing economic global crisis. Since taking office in 2005, President Vásquez has overseen the country’s unemployment rate be significantly reduced from 12.3% to 7.3%, whilst the country’s Central Bank reserves have quadrupled as a direct result of a 7% annual growth rate during the corresponding period. Consequently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Uruguay will be one of the few Latin American countries to experience GDP growth this year. However, Vazquez also pursued a progressive income tax policy in tandem with the economic growth policies to fund social programs that have significantly reduced Uruguayan poverty. The country itself is dubbed the ‘Switzerland’ of Latin America due to the social benefits afforded to its inhabitants.
Uruguay’s economic structure is under pinned by a strong agriculture which has been buoyed in recent years by strong beef exports. Mujica was appointed as Uruguay’s Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries in 2005 (until 2008) and during this time he successfully intervened to keep down the price of beef, a staple of the Uruguayan diet, in order to make it easily affordable to those on low incomes. This intervention became widely known throughout Uruguay as “Pepe’s barbeque”. The government did not however become over dependent on its strong agricultural base but embarked on enticing huge amounts of foreign investment into its expansion with the result that it remains one of the key fulcrums to Uruguayan economy.
At the age of 74, José Mujica, adopted a ‘No Frills’ approach as he went on his election trail for the Presidential race. Whilst conducting his Presidential Campaign he utilised local transport networks with nothing more than a ruck sack on his back. This ‘man of the people’ no nonsense style helped him capture the imagination of the young and the workers alike. The selection of Danilo Astori as his running mate allayed the fears of the middle classes that a radical leftward swing in economic policy (Hugo Chavez style) would follow his appointment. Rather, he promised the electorate that he would try and emulate Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Latin America's leading moderate leftist. Also, his decision to lower the beef price as Agricultural Minister, to make it more economically accessible, reflected his pragmatic approach to policy judgement. He promised his supporters;
“I'm not the apocalypse nor the promised land,...............This is an election, not a war. Whatever happens, the country will continue moving ahead."
The very fact that this former guerrilla fighter has become democratically chosen by Uruguay’s electorate is testament to the courage and determination of José Mujica to persevere on the revolutionary path and socialist vision that he had for his country almost 50 years ago!!
In his address to the thousands of loyal supporters he said;
"We have won because of your government and we will continue it.''
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