Uruguay Update: Change with Continuity

President-elect José Mujica takes office March 1 amid expectations that he will continue moving forward with the policies of his predecessor and Frente Amplio colleague, Tabaré Vázquez. The AS/COA looks at his inauguration, the composition of his cabinet and Uruguay’s’ newly inaugurated General Assembly.

Inauguration

Mujica, elected with 53 percent of the vote in a November 2009 run-off election, has requested a simple inaugural ceremony, which is intended to demonstrate his belief in the need to cut government spending.

However, the ceremony will not be without its share of dignitaries. Confirmed attendees include: Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and, in her last official trip, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos has confirmed as well, but local Colombian press are reporting that President Álvaro Uribe will also be in attendance.

From the United States, the State Department announced on February 24 that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the inauguration as part of the first leg of a Latin American trip that will take her to Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala between February 28 and March 5. In Uruguay, she will also be meeting with President Fernández de Kirchner on Monday afternoon.

Cabinet and Ministers

In December, the president-elect announced his cabinet ministers, all of whom are supporters of the Frente Amplio (FA) coalition.

Luis Almagro, the new minister of foreign affairs, served as ambassador to China and helped to open the door for Mercosur trade negotiations with China. The incoming Minister of Economy, Fernando Lorenzo, is an economist who worked in the ministry under the Vázquez administration. Lorenzo is a close confidant of Danilo Astori, the incoming vice president. Among the 13 ministers is also incoming Minister of Defense Luis Rosadilla, a fellow Tupamaros guerilla who spent time in jail with Mujica and headed the defense commission in the Chamber of Deputies.

Uruguay’s cabinet ministers are organized by sector, a result of the Vázquez administration’s state reforms.

New General Assembly

The new members of both houses were sworn in on February 15, 2010, for a term that will last through 2015. In the Chamber of Deputies, 50 of the 99 members are FA members while in the Senate the coalition has 16 of the 30 seats, in addition to Astori, who, as vice president, presides over the Senate.

Women now lead both houses for the first time in history. Lucía Topolansky, Mujica’s wife, has the distinction of being the Senate’s top recipient of votes while Ivonne Pasada now heads the Chamber of Deputies. Topolansky is the third in line of succession after the president and vice president.

Only 29 women have served in Uruguay’s parliament since 1985. But in March 2009, the country voted in favor of a quota system that requires political parties to list at least one woman for every two men for elected office.

Mujica has come out in favor of working closely with the General Assembly. He has said that all political discussions should occur through the legislature, saying that “although we complain sometimes because it’s too slow, it’s the shock absorber of society, where all complaints, demands, and criticisms are channeled.”