On Halloween, 31 October, Tabaré Vázquez and his Frente Amplio-Encuentro Progresista coalition gained an overwhelming victory in the Uruguayan general election, receiving over 50% of the vote and taking an absolute majority both in the Senate and the House of Deputies.
The victory of the Frente Amplio is partly due to the great workers’ movements that have recently staged six general strikes. It also follows a referendum victory that prevented the privatisation of the national oil company (Ancap). Many Uruguayans used the general election to punish the right wing for their negligent and corrupt capitalist policies, particularly after the August 2002 banking crisis when the economy contracted by 11%.
However, the programme of the coalition – including all sorts of socialists as well as members of the former guerrilla movement, the Tupamaros, is far from anti-capitalist: it does not advocate agrarian reforms, or freezing foreign debt repayments, let alone the nationalisation of industry. Although he does not take office until next March, Tabaré Vázquez has spelled out the political direction of his government. He stated that he will be careful with public expenditure, favour job creation and will fight poverty by pushing for better income distribution.
Foreign debt has climbed to US$13bn, equivalent to 114% of GDP. 27% of the economically active population are either unemployed or under-employed. The outgoing government agreed on an economic programme with the IMF which requires the repayment of US$1.884bn in 2005 and another US$1.970bn in 2006. Yet the Miami Herald reported the former Tupamaro leader and newly elected Senator of the Frente Amplio, José Mujica, saying, ‘We are not big enough to challenge the IMF. The relationship between Uruguay and the Fund is good, and we intend to keep it that way.’
The president elect and his economic minister have vowed to keep to all agreements made by the previous governments. Vázquez even travelled as presidential candidate to Washington in August and met President Bush, representatives of US banks and Wall Street investors to reassure them.
As a demonstration of support for neo-liberal policies, Vázquez initially proposed Enrique Iglesias, boss of the Inter-American Development Bank and architect of the policies that have devastated Latin America, as finance minister. Iglesias declined and another favourite of international capitalists, Danilo Astori, stepped in. Mujica explained the ambitions of the Frente Amplio: ‘what we need to do is make capitalism more decent’ and ‘nowadays revolution is to give the people a plate of food’. Such words from an ex-guerrilla fighter show what the Frente Amplio government is likely to be: a cosmetic change to make capitalism more ‘user friendly’, steering the workers away from their only true alternative: socialism.
Marcelo Diaz
FRFI 182 December 2004 / January 2005
