The security -and unsafety- in Uruguay It is a topic on all the tables. With the proximity of the primaries, the comments and discussions took on another tone: that of a campaign. Now, with the first stage of the 2024 elections over, some candidates already have their sights set on October. Andres Ojeda, the presidential candidate of Colorado Party, is one of them. And security is emerging as its battleground.
“I want to be the candidate of the coalition,” said Ojeda, euphoric, on the night of June 30, when the results of the internal elections already declared him the winner of the Colorado presidential candidacy. For a weakened Colorado Party, which is no longer influential in the Uruguayan political scene, divided mainly between the National Party and the Broad Front —or at least, it no longer has the weight it once had years ago—, the exclamation was as absurd as it was longed for.
However, the lawyer got down to work on the issue of the security as his workhorse. Taking advantage of an electoral scenario that was still relatively calm after the primaries and without the pre-candidates who placed special emphasis on the issue – such as the nationalist Jorge Gandini or the red one Gabriel Gurmendez; even the former prosecutor Gustavo Zubia who ended up supporting Ojeda’s candidacy—began to polarize from the topic not only with the Broad Front, but with the whites themselves.
“I am concerned that the political discussion behind the plebiscite proposed today by the PIT-CNT, which does not have the support of any candidate, and of almost any sector of the political system, eats up the agenda and leaves the most important plebiscite, which is supported by the entire coalition, in the background,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday. In this way, Ojeda put on the stage the plebiscite on night raidsan initiative promoted by the nationalist senators Sergio Botana and Carlos Camy, but which was, in fact, in a distant second place behind the popular consultation on the matter of social Security.
The comment, accompanied by the proposal to establish a “pro-raid commission,” set the tone: while a good part of the coalition is focused on the campaign against the PIT-CNT plebiscite —the National Party and the Independent Party—, The Colorado candidate “took over” the other referendum in a strategy, also, to differentiate himself from his colleagues in government.
This does not mean, of course, that he is moving away from the campaign against the social security plebiscite. In fact, he signed the joint declaration proposed by the former Minister of Labor and Social Security (MTSS). Pablo Mieres, and it is a topic from which it can attack the Frente Amplio – something that it also does with enthusiasm, in its desire to position itself as the alternative to the left. But taking the night raids and, with it, the proposal related to the fight against crime, also allows him to have a differential with the nationalists in the kind of internal dispute that will take place in October between the parties of the governing coalition.
The issue that worries Uruguayans
That Ojeda is a lawyer specialized in criminal law It is also an addition to the candidate’s profile. And it supports him in his intention to be someone who not only takes the security agenda as the number one priority, but also who takes the agenda that most concerns Uruguayans.
In this regard, the survey of Figure published in mid-June indicated that 47% of the population considers that the unsafety It is the country’s main problem and, therefore, the one that biggest concern generates. This has been going on for several years; therefore, it is what they consider most urgent to resolve. The presidential formula that best addresses this agenda between now and October could win many votes.
It is unlikely that Ojeda does not see in this an opportunity that contributes to his goal of being the coalition candidatewhether from the perspective of differentiating himself from other candidates from the ruling party and the opposition, or from presenting himself as the candidate with the agenda that really matters to citizens.
Is he the only one who talks about security? No, but the tone with which he speaks about the subject – as well as other issues – also stands out among the range of traditionally more “correct” politicians. In that sense, his open request to declare as terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas, Despite the remoteness of terrorism in Uruguay, is proof of this.
Whether this plays in his favour or against him, the results of October – and, most likely, those of the coming years – will tell. The truth is that in June he was the big winner of the red night.
Source: Ambito
