After Lacalle’s scandals, hope resurfaces with Orsi, in the key of FA

Aram Aharonian

Uruguay, that tiny country that can hardly be seen on the map, four times world champion in soccer, the surprise is that there were no more than two victories. Despite the hegemonic media’s predictions of a very close result, the Frente Amplio people once again came out to celebrate: hope is back.

The center-left Frente Amplio (FA), with 15 years of government between 2005 and 2020, will assume from Saturday, March 1, 2025, the challenge of recovering lost rights, of building a progressive proposal and of repositioning Uruguay as one of the countries that promote the deepening of democracy and liberties against the advance of the right wing, in a world context of instability, crisis and conflict.

Apart from the tension promoted by the regional extreme right, the triumph of the Frente Amplio opens a new hope for Latin America and the Caribbean and for all those who defend democracy, equality and freedom. With a leadership that combines closeness to the citizenry and experience in government, Yamandú Orsi will take on the challenge of responding to the most urgent social demands, while seeking to build consensus in a parliamentary scenario that is not only a political one, but also a political one.

Orsi’s candidacy was in the majority in the departments where the FA is traditionally strong, Montevideo and Canelones, but also in Salto, Paysandú and San José. In the rest of the departments the right-wing coalition was in the majority. Now it remains to be seen how the coalition parties will behave as opposition this time, i.e., whether they will remain united as a bloc or not.

Orsi. will take office until 2030, in the bicentenary of the Republic, in one of the most stable democracies in the region, and will have to face from day one the main demands of society, which include the cost of living and public safety, while betting on improving the efficiency of the State to enhance the quality of public services and the competitiveness of the economy, among other issues.

The polarization between left and right exists in Uruguay in the traditional way, but it is far from the former. Leaders have to be framed in the parties, and so messianisms have a hard time growing if they do not. The Frente Amplio is particularly solid, with a strong territorial presence and a strong link with trade unions and social organizations, which has been consolidating since November 5, 2022.

Orsi received, among others, congratulations from outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, who said he was confident that the two countries “will continue to work together to build safer and more prosperous futures”, and from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who highlighted Uruguay as a partner in the “fight against climate change and climate change”.

In his first activity after his victory, Orsi visited his mentor, former president José “Pepe” Mujica and his wife Lucía Topolanski, at their farm in the outskirts of the country. Mujica spoke to him about his experience and gave him his thoughts on He has the wisdom not to give you things as advice, but to tell you what his experience was, how he put it together, what the Presidency is like… something that I had already heard about. We had already talked,“ he said.

In his victory message he assured his predisposition to negotiate, to build bridges to unite the country, both in his own force, with the opposition, as well as with the countries of the region. He pointed out that “the relationship with Argentina has to be very good, we have no chance”, although across the Rio de la Plata there is the ultra-right Javier Milei, who has not yet labeled him as “com On his second day as president-elect, he met with Luis Lacalle to initiate the transition and coordinate the presence of both at the Mercosur presidential summit, on December 6, in Montevideo.

Orsi will have to strike a balance between the two most influential countries in South America, Brazil and Argentina, taking into account that Milei is not interested in Mercosur, as his options are in the United States. And he spoke about the increase in the last five years of children and families in poverty. Child poverty exceeds 20 percent, and the increase in the prison population (more than 16,000 inmates), the need not to naturalize the homicides of children and to go deeper into solving the causes of the problem. the problem…

Lacalle’s scandals

Luis Lacalle, his surfboard and his government of scandals -in which directly or indirectly authorities were involved-, from the breach of electoral promises, the violation of public ethics, the malfunctioning of the public function, the cases of corruption or the commission of crimes, among them the desafuero of Lacalle’s senator Gustavo Penadés, accused of multiple crimes of abuse and corruption.

The cases of Alejandro Astesiano, head of President Lacalle’s custody, accused of falsifying documents for the issuance of passports to Russian citizens, and of Sebastián Marset, Uruguayan drug trafficker accused of murdering Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, to whom the government issued a visa to travel around the world, scandals that have been on the public agenda since the departure of the country’s President Lacalle. Covid-19 pandemic.

At the end of November 2022, the investigation of Astesiano’s whatsapp conversations revealed the one he had with some retired military officers, owners or part of a security company operating from the US, in which they asked him to prepare files with information on the follow-up of the legislators Mario Bergara and Charles Carrera, who had denounced the concession of the port of Montevideo to the Belgian transnational Katoen Natie, who had denounced the concession of the port of Montevideo to the Belgian transnational Katoen Natie, who had denounced the concession of the port of Montevideo to the Belgian transnational Katoen Natie.
Natie

the FA’s advantage, and the future of the right wing

Finally Yamandú Orsi pulled ahead of Álvaro Delgado by 95,000 votes, leaving him 49.84% to 49.84%. 45.87%. Since 1923 the country had not had a president not born in Monaco. The last president elected who was born in the interior of the country was Baltas. With the quick result of the ballot, several uncertainties are over but others will begin to be revealed in the next hours.

Orsi won and, once again, the institution won again. The defeated Álvaro Delgado pointed out that: “With sadness, of course, but without guilt complex we can congratulate who won, who had the preference and do it with sincerity and with a sincere and sincere attitude.

Another clear winner was Orsi’s campaign manager, Senator Alejandro “Pacha” Sanchez (he could well have been the candidate), who was in charge of leading Orsi to success in his strategy to win the election. After five years out of government, following the thunderous failure of socialist Daniel Martinez as presidential candidate five years ago, the Front will not have a parliamentary majority and will therefore have to look for a new candidate. In Deputies, it is two votes short of a majority.

The FA is now very different from when it was founded: Liber Seregni, Juan José Crottogini, Zelmar Mihelini, José Pedro Cardoso, José Luis Massera and Juan Pablo Terra are no longer with it… But, as in 1971, it continues to constitute and build hope for the majority of the Uruguayan people, and it is still a party that is still in the vanguard.

Will the self-criticism of the ruling party and the analyses come to understand the Perhaps the arrogance of Lacalle and his entourage will make it possible to understand the defeat? The dispute over the decision to choose Valeria Ripoll as vice-presidential candidate and the question of why Lacalle’s high approval ratings, which according to the hegemonic press almost reached 50%, did not translate into a victory for the ruling coalition, are still resounding.

Beyond these questions, there are doubts about the continuity of the coalition in the next elections