Abstract
After 15 years of left-wing leadership under the Frente Amplio coalition, on March 1Uruguay has ushered in a conservative government led by the Partido Nacional and a centre-right to right-wing coalition with other four political parties. Thirteen days later, President Lacalle declared a Public Health Emergency because of COVID 19 and development of several initiatives begins. This article focuses specifically on those aimed at poverty and vulnerability, based on official communications and considering that beyond this crisis, they are exemplary of the general orientation of the new government. Despite repeated and permanent announcements by the government, public responses tend to be minimal, for a short time and with little clarity on the award criteria. The axis is not placed on the expansion of unconditional cash transfers, and instead, the focus is on food baskets and voluntary donations. In a context of a labor market with difficulties in incorporating an important group of people, and even more in formalizing it, the bet seems to be placed on the protection that families and civil society organizations can provide. This supposes a return to the orientations prevailing in Latin America at the end of the last century and presumably its consequences.
Highlights
on March 1 Uruguay has ushered in a conservative government led by the
specifically on those aimed at poverty and vulnerability
they are exemplary of the general orientation of the new government
Summary
El 1 de marzo de 2020 se produce el cambio de gobierno en el Uruguay, asumiendo la presidencia Lacalle Pou. De esos primeros días del nuevo gobierno es relevante destacar dos aspectos: algunos datos sobre la situación del país y las preocupaciones expresadas por Lacalle Pou y sus socios de la coalición multicolor. El Presidente y ante una consulta sobre impuestos a los sectores de altos ingresos del sector privado para sumar al Fondo Coronavirus respondió, que no sería gravado el capital, en tanto eso supone amputar las posibilidades de los que harán fuerza en la salida de la crisis. Esto cambia de manera notoria el 8 de abril, cuando en la ya mencionada conferencia de prensa, el Presidente anuncia que el análisis del ritmo de los contagios y los recuperados y la continuidad del pacto ciudadano de quedarse en la casa según las posibilidades, lo llevan a la conclusión que no se produciría un disparo de casos positivos y por tanto, nada indica que se vaya a estar peor. Este fue el eje principal de su discurso ante el Parlamento nacional, al asumir la Presidencia de la República, indicando como síntesis que “[...] la principal tarea será impulsar el principio de ‘libertad en todas sus formas’”16
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