Left Resurgence in Uruguay as History teacher Wins Presidential Fight

Left-wing politician Yamandu Orsi is the new Uruguay president as he won the electoral battle according to official results on November 24. The election outcome comes as a sharp rebuke of the Conservative rule by the voters of Uruguay.

Orsi beat Alvaro Delgado who was the candidate for the governing conservative coalition by more than 3% points. With this, the Broad Front coalition will come to Uruguay’s power again after a gap of five years of Conservative rule in the country.

The Broad Front coalition had ruled Uruguay from 2005-2020, that is for a fifteen-year period. Then in the last election, it was beaten by President Luis Lacalle Pou, who is now barred from standing for a second consecutive term in this election as per the constitution of Uruguay.

Orsi comes from a humble background who grew up in rural Uruguay in a house that had no electricity. Orsi was a former history teacher in a school and became active in local politics which eventually brought his victory by becoming the mayor of Canelones.

Orsi is a protégé of the former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who could own the hearts of not only many in Uruguay but also across the world. His lifestyle was a matter of discussion in world politics and he was termed as the poorest president in the world.

During Orsi’s tenure at Canelones the tech giant Google announced building of a huge data centre. In his run up to the presidential election, Orsi appeared business friendly. During his campaigns Orsi said that he plans to avoid raising taxes that can scare investors.

Left Governments Elsewhere in Latin America:

With Uruguay going for the left, Latin America’s tally of countries with left government increases. Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil have governments led by left-wing politicians.

 In Brazil Lula is the president who defeated right wing Jair Bolsonaro during whose tenure Amazon rain forest witnessed massive deforestation. Bolsonaro’s stance as a climate denier and his policies towards science and researches was criticized across the world.

Bolivia had its first indigenous president in the form of Evo Morales from 2006-2019. His political outfit MAS (March Towards Socialism) ruled Bolivia for a long time. Morales faced severe protests in 2019 and had to flee his country. He returned back after his former ally and the present Bolivian president Luis Arce took power in 2020. Recently, a Bolivian court has barred Morales from running again to the elected office.

Colombia saw its first left-wing government with Gustavo Petro as the president two years ago.