From Montevideo
The rain crossed from Buenos Aires to Montevideo in the form of a storm. The taupe-gray sky above the Río de La Plata was a sign of what was to come. The town welcomed us with a downpour during the ban and candidates were forced to remain silent. Uruguay chooses this Sunday among 11 candidates for the presidency. An act of cohesion in a football country like this.
There is a team, but if the polls prove it, only two will reach the second round on November 24. If there is no surprise and the Frente Amplio will grow its electoral mass, which today is around 44 percent of the table, according to the most respected advisers, and which is higher than 50 percent. With one more vote Yamandú Orsiformer mayor of Canelones, the successor of Luis Lacalle Pou, the politician who broke with the hegemony of 15 years of FA governments divided between Tabaré Vázquez (two terms) and José “Pepe” Mujica. Although he will retire not miss him so much in the future.
Yamandú’s names have a very oriental sound, the credit of the Frente Amplio. Like its namesake, guitarist and composer Yamandú Palacios, it seems to be taken from a lyric by Alfredo Zitarrosa. Two musicians from the 70s, also contemporaries of Daniel Viglietti and Los Olimareños. The inhabitants of the song complain. A complaint from those below that has been felt again in the last five years when the right returned to Government Tower (same as our Casa Rosada).
In the area, it is recognized that this brother has good qualities of democratic coexistence. Respect for institutions, communication (even between antagonistic parties), without a cultural war like the one proposed by the extreme right government in Argentina, explains his less attractive political life.
To make it clear: the most disturbing candidate in the election is Andrés Ojeda Spitz, from the Colorado Party (third place in previous polls) and bodybuilding fan. He campaigned from a gym while showing off lifting weights. He preferred dumbbells to a chainsaw. A member of the traditional right-wing force, the new up-and-comer in Uruguayan politics looks like a baby next to Javier Milei, with whom he is often compared here.
But beyond any of one, two or more candidates, there is a social and economic conflict in Uruguay boiling below. The popularity levels of the president who will leave power in March 2025 fell since the pandemic. He dropped almost 20 points. And to some extent they show why Orsi has the same difference in the opinion polls as Álvaro Delgado, the dolphin of Lacalle Pou. The candidate of the White Party can only be excited about the second round and the votes that the other forces of the Republican Coalition will bring him, where the two oldest parties in Uruguay, born in the 19th century, and Cabildo Abierto, led by former general Guido Manini Ríos.
The critical situation of children and young people (20 percent poor) is not compared to the level of wealth of some 15,800 Uruguayans who have at least a million dollars in their bank accounts, making the country too different from others because of inequality. indexes in the area. Uruguay, a country with a progressive history since its Constitution in 1830, allowed the rich to increase their fortunes.but not that their poorer classes could enjoy upward social mobility.
A pioneer in Latin America for the abolition of the death penalty or for women to vote and on to be the first in the world to allow the commercialization and consumption of marijuana, Uruguay was the country of the Americas Latin, mostly Catholic, who arrived before any other license. divorce law at the beginning of the 20th century (1907).
These achievements are not in harmony with the cost of living, one of the highest on the continent. The VAT is higher than the rate in Argentina: 22 percent. And their customs duties range from 25 percent to 35 percent. Fuel prices are very high due to their high tax costs: Uruguay is, after Barbados, the country with the most expensive gasoline in the Americas, according to Global Petrol Prices ($1.81 per liter of SP95 as of October 14) .
Recovering from a drought that ended in August 2023 and left its economy heavily battered, the neighboring country often coincides with these ups and downs which indicates some admirable indices in terms of renewable energy with others of a social nature that generate disagreements among its population. The pension reform that will be submitted to a plebiscite with the national elections is one of these issues. An issue that has created tension, even within the Broad Front.
The full Aerolíneas Argentinas plane landed in this city with strong winds that were still blowing in the Montevideo night. This Sunday 2,766,323 voters will be able to choose a new president after a relatively smooth campaign, without the debates of other times.. Many of the travelers crossed the Río de La Plata for the election. There were a number of them wearing the shirts of beaten Peñarol, who won five Copa Libertadores, but were almost eliminated for the final of that competition. If they did not come from Buenos Aires they would be left without participation. Uruguay and Suriname are the only two countries in South America whose citizens cannot vote if they are outside the country. It is estimated that nearly 600,000 Uruguayans live abroad and a large percentage of that number in Argentina.
