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<font size=4><b>Celebrating Compromises in Uruguay: José Mujica
Inaugurated as President <br><br>
</b></font><font size=1>
<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/uruguay-archives-48/2385-celebrating-compromises-in-uruguay-mujica-inaugurated-as-president" eudora="autourl">
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/uruguay-archives-48/2385-celebrating-compromises-in-uruguay-mujica-inaugurated-as-president<br>
</a></font><font size=3>Written by Benjamin Dangl <br>
Thursday, 04 March 2010 11:31 <br><br>
<i>“The donkey is an intelligent animal because it never forgets where it
can eat.”</i> – Farmer, Ex-Guerrilla and current Uruguayan President José
“Pepé” Mujica, in an interview with <i>La Brecha</i>. <br><br>
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,
<a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1238905">La
Nación</a> reported.<br><br>
Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano told
<a href="http://www.pagina12.com.ar/imprimir/diario/ultimas/subnotas/141211-45484-2010-03-01.html">
Página/12</a> 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.”<br><br>
Among other campaign platforms, Mujica has promised to focus on the
development of new housing projects for the country’s poor, reactivate
the
<a href="http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/03/04/opinion/o-02151873.htm">
train system</a>, 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.<br><br>
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 <a href="http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50503">IPS
News</a> 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.<br><br>
Mujica
<a href="http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/03/03/index.php?section=mundo&article=022n2mun">
appointed two other</a> 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.<br><br>
Manuela Nieves, a housewife present at the inauguration with her
daughter, told
<a href="http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elmundo/4-141257-2010-03-02.html">
Página/12</a>, “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.”<br><br>
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 <a href="http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50503">IPS News</a>,
"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.”<b> <br><br>
</b>Mujica said since becoming a politician years ago has
<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7ve8sdN7cnEIPcGcsJHN4SxvKEA">
learned to</a> “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.<br><br>
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
<a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/02/uruguay-mujica-calls-for-political-dialogue-and-commitment-to-mercosur">
recent gathering</a> with business people from Uruguay and Argentina,
Mujica described himself as a “wild cat that has turned into a
vegetarian.”<br><br>
<div align="center">***<br><br>
</div>
For more information on José Mujica, Uruguayan politics and the Frente
Amplio political party, see
<a href="http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1779/1/">Turning
Activists Into Voters in Uruguay: Frente Amplio and José
Mujica</a><br><br>
<i>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
<a href="http://www.akpress.org/2007/items/priceoffireakpress">The Price
of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia</a> (AK Press) and
the forthcoming book
<a href="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</a>
(AK Press).</i> Email: Bendangl(at)gmail(dot)com<br>
<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/uruguay-archives-48/2241-turning-activists-into-voters-in-uruguay-the-frente-amplio-and-josujica">
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