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Editor's Note: Pedro Brieger is an Argentine journalist and sociologist, author of more than seven books and contributor to publications on international issues. He currently serves as director of NODAL, a portal dedicated exclusively to the news of Latin America and the Caribbean. He collaborated with different national media such as Clarín, El Cronista, La Nación, Página / 12, Profile and for magazines such as News, Somos, Le Monde Diplomatique and Panorama. Throughout his career, Brieger won important awards for his informative work on Argentine radio and television. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
(CNN Spanish) - After 15 years of government of the Frente Amplio, the right again comes to power in Uruguay at the hands of Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou. If we analyze the history of the country, it can be said that he never lost the real power because the two great traditional parties, the National Party, known as the White Party, and the Colorado Party control the political, economic, legal and media springs of the country since independence in 1825. That is why it is not surprising that Lacalle Pau is the son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou de Herrera, who ruled between 1990 and 1995, and great-grandson of one of the historical leaders of the National Party.
In reality, the governments of the Frente Amplio were a rarity in the history of this country, which alternated whites, colorados and some military power throughout the twentieth century. The left-wing coalition, created in 1971, was persecuted after the coup of June 1973 until the democratic restoration of 1984, and grew from election to election until it became the main political force over the two traditional parties and achieved victory in 2004 with Tabaré Vázquez.
Lacalle Pou won in November last year in the second round, but will face several problems. His triumph does not have the aura of a crushing victory as he achieved it by less than about 37,000 votes, a very narrow margin, and the Broad Front is the main opposing force in both houses. On the other hand, right-wing governments in South America no longer have the prestige of years ago when Sebastián Piñera seemed consolidated in Chile and presented himself as a new reference Mauricio Macri in Argentina. Chile is experiencing a social explosion today and a deep questioning of its economic policies and in Argentina, which is usually the giant “mirror” of Uruguay, Macri was widely defeated, precisely by applying the same orthodox economic recipes that Lacalle Pou proposes to implement. In addition, Uruguayan trade unionism, shut down during the years of government of the Frente Amplio for feeling it as its own, has a great tradition of struggle and it is hard to believe that it will accept labor reforms or privatizations of some public companies that are the pride of the majority of the population .
In the recent carnival, the traditional Murgas took to the streets with criticism of Lacalle Pou and her multicolored alliance even before assuming. The murgas usually reflect a social feeling and protest with humor because they are a pillar of popular culture. We will have to see who goes out when the new president decides to implement his program once the carnival is over.
