[News] Celebrating Compromises in Uruguay: José Mujica Inaugurated as President

Thu Mar 4 11:50:19 EST 2010

Celebrating Compromises in Uruguay: José Mujica Inaugurated as President

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/uruguay-archives-48/2385-celebrating-compromises-in-uruguay-mujica-inaugurated-as-president
Written by Benjamin Dangl
Thursday, 04 March 2010 11:31

“The donkey is an intelligent animal because it 
never forgets where it can eat.” – Farmer, 
Ex-Guerrilla and current Uruguayan President José 
“Pepé” Mujica, in an interview with La Brecha.

The smell of fried food and sausage sandwiches 
filled the Montevideo air as José “Pepe” Mujica 
assumed the presidency of Uruguay on Monday, 
March 1st. Street vendors lined the inauguration 
parade route selling Uruguayan flags to a 
boisterous crowd which cheered, “Olé, olé, olé, 
Pepe, Pepe.” Mujica, a former Tupamaro guerilla 
who was imprisoned and tortured under the 
country’s dictatorship, stood in front of the 
multitude with his wife and vice president as he 
led the crowd in singing folksongs that were 
outlawed during military rule, 
<http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1238905>La Nación reported.

Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano told 
<http://www.pagina12.com.ar/imprimir/diario/ultimas/subnotas/141211-45484-2010-03-01.html>Página/12 
the period opening up with the inauguration of 
Mujica “is born blessed with the enthusiasm of 
the people, the fervent hope of the people, and 
this is something to take care of, to be very 
careful to not defraud. It is a day of celebration but also of compromise.”

Among other campaign platforms, Mujica has 
promised to focus on the development of new 
housing projects for the country’s poor, 
reactivate the 
<http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/03/04/opinion/o-02151873.htm>train 
system, expand the access and quality of 
education, and participate actively in regional 
integration with other South American nations. 
Presidents from Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, 
Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela attended the inauguration.

Mujica lives with his wife outside the city at a 
farm where he grows vegetable and flowers. María 
del Rosario Corbo, a 44-year-old neighbor of 
Mujica, spoke to 
<http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50503>IPS 
News of the new president, "He's just an ordinary 
guy: you see him on his bike, his motorcycle, 
working among his flowers
 He's going to 
strengthen the focus on the poor, giving them a 
helping hand." The president will also be 
donating most of his salary to a program for homeless people.

Mujica 
<http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/03/03/index.php?section=mundo&article=022n2mun>appointed 
two other former imprisoned guerrillas in his 
government, including Luis Rosadilla as the 
Minister of Defense and Eduardo Bonomi as the 
Minister of the Interior. The bloody Uruguayan 
dictatorship lasted from 1973 to 1985.

Manuela Nieves, a housewife present at the 
inauguration with her daughter, told 
<http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elmundo/4-141257-2010-03-02.html>Página/12, 
“because of the all the years of suffering, we 
now deserve that the left continue in the 
government. Mujica represents the people. He will 
continue on the path of [former president] Tabaré but with a different heart.”

The new president pledged to get rid of extreme 
poverty in the country, and focus on Uruguay’s 
neglected rural areas; 93% of the population 
lives in urban areas. At the same time Mujica 
emphasized that he wants to strengthen the 
private sector, increase wealth and attract 
investment to the country. Uruguayan political 
science professor Juan Andrés Moraes told 
<http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50503>IPS 
News, "Mujica says his government will be more 
like [Brazilian President] Lula's than the 
administrations of Evo Morales or Chávez. 
Basically, Mujica himself sees the differences clearly.”

Mujica said since becoming a politician years ago 
has 
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7ve8sdN7cnEIPcGcsJHN4SxvKEA>learned 
to “embrace serpents,” making compromises in 
order to get things done in politics. Mujica’s 
choice of Danilo Astori, the former finance 
minister under previous president Tabaré Vazquez, 
indicates that economic policies are not likely 
to change significantly with the new administration.

For all of the new president’s charisma, populist 
persona and leftist background, his presidency is 
likely to be characterized by moderation and a 
continuation of his predecessor’s policies. In a 
<http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/02/uruguay-mujica-calls-for-political-dialogue-and-commitment-to-mercosur>recent 
gathering with business people from Uruguay and 
Argentina, Mujica described himself as a “wild 
cat that has turned into a vegetarian.”

***

For more information on José Mujica, Uruguayan 
politics and the Frente Amplio political party, 
see 
<http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1779/1/>Turning 
Activists Into Voters in Uruguay: Frente Amplio and José Mujica

Benjamin Dangl is the editor of 
TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on 
world events and UpsideDownWorld.org, a website 
on activism and politics in Latin America. He is 
the author of 
<http://www.akpress.org/2007/items/priceoffireakpress>The 
Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements 
in Bolivia (AK Press) and the forthcoming book 
<http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Dynamite-Social-Movements-America/dp/1849350159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258411127&sr=1-1>Dancing 
with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in 
Latin America (AK Press). Email: Bendangl(at)gmail(dot)com
<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/uruguay-archives-48/2241-turning-activists-into-voters-in-uruguay-the-frente-amplio-and-josujica>Next  
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