Glad to get these details. Now the big answer is why the success? What is the Uruguay left doing that is resonating with voters without "Third Way" Blairism?
--Nathan
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Juan Jose Barrios
> Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 7:37 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Uraguay to elect socialist? Analysis on Latin America Left?
>
>
> Hi from Uruguay:
>
> These elections represent the definite consolidation of the left
> as the most
> important political organization in Uruguay. The Broad Front
> (Frente Amplio) was
> created in 1971, then getting 17% of the votes. In 1984, got 20%
> of the votes,
> and later in 1989, 31%, and finally almost 40% on yesterday's
> elections. What
> we really elected was the composition of our Congress (see below). Next
> President will be elected on Nov. 28 between the two most voted candidates
> (Vazquez and Battlle). We are expecting a center-right coalition
> between the
> Blanco Party (the big loser) and the Colorado Party to defeat Vazquez.
>
> Vazquez is a Medical Doctor (Oncologist, sp?) who belongs to the Socialist
> Party. He is an "old" marxist. During his campaign he repeatedly
> said that he
> would use marxism as an "instrument to interpret reality". The
> Front is taking a
> gradual approach: they propose a more participatoy society, creating the
> mechanisms to further increase civil participation to reduce poverty and
> inequality, and at the same time, trying to reach the "approval" of
> international organizations (i.e IMF). One thing is true: this is
> a victory of
> the left. The Broad Front is NOT a spurious coalition: except for a tiny
> minority, all its members are old time leftists. Whether this
> victory will be
> dismissed as a capitualtion to capitalism or not, I dont think
> so. It is really
> hard to see what is going to happen down the road. Note that,
> although we got
> 40% of the votes, we are still the "largest minority".
>
> During the campaing, references (and more than that!!) to the
> failure of the
> Soviet Union, to the Soviet tanks invading Eastern Europe, the
> Berlin Wall,
> Fidel and all the opression and lack of liberty that the "left
> represents" in
> the world did not prevent us to vote for a change.
>
> The situation in Argentina is different, though the direction of
> the change
> looks like the same. There, the coalition included the left (elected Vice
> President, Chacho Alvarez) and the Center (Radicales, elected
> President De la
> Rúa). If someone wants to dissmiss this situation as a "capitualtion to
> capitalism", he/she is probably right.
>
> o,k, final results are:
>
> Broad Front: Socialists, Comunists, Former Guerrilla,
> Independents.............38.5%
> Colorado Party: Center Right Right: Republican/Reform Party sort
> of...........32.5%
> Blanco Party: Center Right: Democrats sort of
> thing......................................21.5%
> Nuevo Espacio: Socialdemocrats (The Rose,
> Blair?)......................................4.5%.
>
> The Broad Front will get 12 out of 30 seats in the Senate, and 40
> out of 99
> Representatives.
>
> if someone wants more info about this, I will be glad to help/
>
> Juan
>
> Nathan Newman wrote:
>
> > The attached AP article notes the revival of the Uraguay left as an
> > electoral force. In combo with Chavez's win in Venezuala and (to a more
> > minor extent) the soft-center left alliance win in Argentina,
> there is an
> > apparent revival of left involvement in winning coalitions. Of
> course, this
> > can be (and I am sure will be) dismissed as mere capitulation to
> > neoliberalism - ie. Clinton-Blairism with a spanish accent -
> but I wonder if
> > there are broader analyses out there on what's been happening
> with the Latin
> > America left and its mass mobilization. Is there changes at
> the grassroots
> > or is this all just insider-political coalition games?
> >
> > --Nathan
> > =============================
> >
> > October 31, 1999
> > Poll: Socialist Leads Uruguay Race
> >
> > By The Associated Press
> > MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -- A socialist was headed for a win in
> the first
> > round of Uruguay's presidential ballot Sunday and will face a
> ruling party
> > opponent in a runoff, according to an exit poll.
> >
> > Tabare Vazquez, 59, of the leftist Broad Front coalition,
> captured about 39
> > percent of the ballot to 32 percent for Jorge Batlle, 73, of the ruling
> > Colorado Party, the independent projection said.
> >
> > The respected Factum polling group projected that Luis Lacalle, a former
> > president and nominee of the center-right National Party, would
> finish third
> > with 22 percent and be eliminated from the race.
> >
> > Two minor candidates lagged far behind in the Factum
> projection, which was
> > broadcast locally on television.
> >
> > ``This is a night of joy,'' said Vazquez, who went on television
> > anticipating that final returns would give him a first-round victory.
> >
> > But he said all projections pointed to another month of hard
> campaigning for
> > a Nov. 28 deciding round and said: ``We have to win two times over.''
> >
> > Authorities said first official returns would be released hours later.
> >
> > Raucous celebrations erupted in this small South American nation as both
> > Tabare's Broad Front coalition and the ruling party of
> President Julio Maria
> > Sanguinetti celebrated.
> >
> > Supporters of both parties waved flags, beat drums and noisily
> paraded in
> > caravans of cars through this capital.
> >
> > A medical doctor and former Montevideo mayor, Vazquez has
> harnessed voter
> > cynicism with Uruguay's two traditional parties, taking the
> government to
> > task for double-digit unemployment and not meeting health, housing and
> > educational needs.
> >
> > No candidate had been expected to garner the simple majority
> needed Sunday
> > for an outright victory. But the compulsory election by 2.4
> million voters
> > confirmed the newfound strength of the left at the ballot box.
> >
> > Here as elsewhere in South America, voters are flirting with the left.
> > Argentina's center-left opposition Alliance won the Oct. 24 presidential
> > election. In Chile, Ricardo Lagos is favored by the polls to become the
> > country's first elected socialist in three decades, though a
> right-wing foe
> > has narrowed Lagos' lead as the Dec. 12 election approaches.
> >
> > In Uruguay, the campaign has been characterized by talk about
> whether the
> > left has truly moderated since the Cold War-era.
> >
> > Vazquez has proposed an ``emergency'' plan to spend more than
> $200 million
> > to create tens of thousands of jobs. He pledges to make the
> wealthier pay
> > more income tax while exempting those who earn less than $1,200 a month.
> >
> > He hopes to turn around a listless economy marked by a 10 percent
> > unemployment rate he blames on Sanguinetti's strict fiscal policies.
> >
> > Batlle, an economist, charges that the Broad Front, a diverse coalition
> > founded in 1971, includes fringe Marxist elements that could
> disrupt or even
> > derail the free-market financial policies already in place.
> >
> > Vazquez dismisses characterizations that he is an unreformed Marxist,
> > responding in an interview this past week: ``No, I am eclectic.''
>
>