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"To lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth"
Thomas Wolfe
Frente Amplio wins the Ballotage run-off and has another 5 year term. Historic for a party that has been conspired against by the entrenched powers. FA was outlawed following the end of the military dictatorship in 1984 for being the political wing of the Tupamaros, the guerilla group fighting for social justice and for it's socialist, communist and left wing members. It was the goverments battle against the Tupamaros that help convince the populace that military rule was necessary to defeat these "terrorists" who threatened law and order.
The party fought it's way back to the ballots and the people found a democratic way to fight elitist two party rule.
Our new president, humble and plain spoken is a hero to many. Perhaps not everyone's choice and not as eloquent as some heads of state, he has earned his new job the hard way.
Jose 'Pepe' Mujica spent some 15 years in prison, many in an abandoned well shaft, at the hands of the military "goverment".
We wish him luck, on unifying the different interests and leading this tiny country in peace and prosperity.
Spirits among Frente Amplio supporters seemed high leading up to the elections here Sunday. I was able to attended a rally for the party although I didn't get close enough to see 'Pepe' speak.
It was a large and enthusiastic crowd, maybe 10,ooo people we guessed. The night before I had been to a march to support another issue on the ballot, repeal of the amnesty law protecting crimes committed around the time of the military dictatorship (1973 to 1985, I think).
It's taken a lot to get it on the ballot again and it's an emotional issue here. Many of the most passionate supporters were not old enough to vote the last time.
At this point I don't think it passed. The outcome of the general election isn't even so clear to me. With about 48% of the vote, Frente Amplio didn't win outright, so as it's now ballotage (sp?), there'll be a run off between the first and second place. This favors the right and super right parties, which is probably why this system was put in. Incidentally, these two parties announced hours after the election and when it was clear they'd lost, that they'd be pooling their support to defeat the unpopular populist Jose 'Pepe' Mujica. Even with the FA, many think him not the best #1 guy and the finger pointing will really crank up if this goes the way it's heading.
It would be an historic second term for the lefties here and I'm hoping all the "splitters" can come together and give these guys a boost. We need this. The world is getting meaner, not nicer.
Here's why; The guys on the right are clearly and unabashadly aligned with the rich, the powerful and influential 'class' of people in this country. An alignment that is more or less universal. This is not a bold or outrages claim, most would aknowlege. So, for the most advanced societies and leaders of the world, an argument could be made that it's not working so well. On many levels.
Uruguyans have a place that's actually fixable and I just don't trust the polo set to fix it anytime soon.
Give the unrefined rubes more time to even things up. That's right, take all the hard earned money from the rich and give to the selfish poor. You know, it just might be the most profitable thing yet.
