Tabaré Vázquez

Tabaré Vázquez  MD
President of Uruguay
Incumbent
Assumed office  March 1 2005
Vice President	Rodolfo Nin
Preceded by	Jorge Batlle
Born	January 17, 1940 (1940-01-17) (age 69) Montevideo, Uruguay
Political party	FA
Spouse	María Auxiliadora Delgado
Profession	Oncologist

Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas (pron IPA: [taβa'ɾe ra'mon 'baskes 'rosas]) (born January 17, 1940) is the current President of Uruguay. A physician (oncologist) by training, he is a member of the centre-left Broad Front coalition (Frente Amplio in Spanish). Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004 and took office on March 1 2005.

Background

Born in the Montevideo neighbourhood of La Teja, Tabaré Vázquez studied medicine at the Universidad de la República Medical School, graduating as an oncology specialist [5] in 1972. In 1976 he received a grant from the French government allowing him to obtain additional training at the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris.

From 1990 to 1995, Vázquez was the Broad Front coalition's first Mayor of Montevideo. In 1994, he made an unsuccessful run for president as the Frente Amplio candidate, receiving 30.6% of the vote. In 1996, he was elected leader of the Frente Amplio, replacing the historic leader of the left-wing coalition, Liber Seregni. He ran again in 1999, receiving 45.9% percent of the vote in the runoff election, losing to Jorge Batlle.

Vázquez is married to María Auxiliadora Delgado and has three children with her (Ignacio, Álvaro and Javier) plus an adopted son, Fabián.

Tabaré is of Galician background.

President of Uruguay, 2005-

In the 2004 elections, he won 51.7% of the valid votes, with 1,124,761 votes on the first ballot, eliminating the need for a runoff, and taking office in early 2005. He became the first Uruguayan president who did not belong to the so-called "traditional" parties, the National (Blanco) and Colorado parties.

With his own Frente Amplio holding a majority in Parliament, Vázquez was thought to have few obstacles to start with. He also has the support of the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also a centre-leftist.

Vázquez is a notable football fan. During his ten-year stint (1979-1989) as president of the Club Progreso team, it won the professional national championship (for first and only time) in 1989.

Policies and governance

Domestic policy and human rights

Vázquez has followed a cautious path regarding economic policy. Even though his Finance Minister, Danilo Astori, has followed a conservative policy regarding macroeconomic policy and debt repayment, the government has introduced a bill that aims to widely reform the taxation system in Uruguay.

The Broad Front ran on a platform of social justice. Vázquez has initiated an "emergency plan" (in Spanish Plan de Atención Nacional a la Emergencia Social or PANES) intended to address the most urgent needs of an estimated 200,000 Uruguayans for two years by investing $100 million in a number of programs which range from food assistance to health care. The plan, which has met with criticism over its bureaucracy, especially during its initial stages, is run under the responsibility of the Minister of Social Development, Marina Arismendi. It has been compared to Brazil's plan Fome Zero at a smaller scale.

In November 2005 his administration led a profound and significant victory in the investigation of human rights violations that had taken place during the military dictatorship. Having appointed a team of anthropologists and forensic investigators, and having ordered the military to cooperate and indicate possible sites for the unmarked graves, his government succeeded in unearthing remains of leftists disappeared during the 1970s military rule.

The Parliament, now with a majority of representatives from the Frente Amplio, has tried to approve laws legalizing abortion, currently banned under Uruguayan legislation since 1938. Vázquez has repeatedly announced his decision to use his veto power should Parliament approve any law making it legal.

International

Among the most complex issues that have dominated his administration, is an ongoing conflict with Argentina over potential contamination from pulp mills being built on the Uruguayan side of the Uruguay river.

Vazquez has tried to create new commercial and cultural links outside the region. Vazquez was the first Uruguayan President to visit New Zealand and South Korea, and has established contacts with other countries in South East Asia.

2008 Visit to Cuba

In June 2008 President Vázquez visited Cuba ^[1]. While in Cuba, Vázquez engaged in a number of high-profile events, including a summit with President Raúl Castro ^[2]. This visit attracted a measure of censure from the Uruguayan Opposition, from Pedro Bordaberry and others, who were critical of Vázquez for choosing to be in Cuba during a commemoration - which Vázquez himself initiated - of the victims of the dictatorship of 1973-1985 ^[3].

Arms from Iran controversy

In 2007 the loading of Iranian arms onto a Uruguayan Navy vessel visiting Venezuela, in contravention of a UN-sponsored arms embargo, provoked international comment. Internal controversy regarding this event was centred on protests to Vázquez's Government from the Uruguayan Opposition National Party ^[4].

Popularity

Tabaré Vázquez receives U.S. President George W. Bush with asado a la parrilla

President Vázquez started with a 77% approval rating, but according to an opinion poll of Equipos Mori, his popularity had fallen to 45% by June 2006. This level of popularity is below the electoral support he received in the 2004 elections and is attributed by some analysts to the decision of the government led by Vázquez not to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the United States under pressure from the more radical base of his party, which may have alienated more conservative voters. Other moves by his administration concerning economic policy have met with resistance from trade unions and the left. Furthermore, many believe that Vázquez's opposition to legalising abortion and threats to veto any pro-choice legislation passed by the government -a position that stands in contrast with the opinions of both the majority of his governing coalition and the majority of Uruguayans- have made a modest dent in his public support. (Against this it may also be noted that one of the constituent parties of the ruling Frente Amplio coaltion - the cohesion of which Vázquez is pledged to maintain - is the Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay, which opposes the measure.) In October 2006, President Vázquez was still personally more popular than his government with a 62% approval rating. However, a considerable drop in the government's popularity was registered by an Equipos/MORI poll in late April 2007, showing that 44% of Uruguayans approve of the action of his government. ^[5]. Lately a new poll by Factum shows a 57% of approvement, indicating a significant recovery.^[6]

In January 2008, two members of the ruling coalition, former Senator José Korzeniak and Foreign Secretary Reinaldo Gargano, made proposals to reform the Uruguayan constitution, focusing on the possibility of the immediate reelection of the President (forbidden under the present constitution). The central tenet of the reelection clause is based of Vázquez continuing popularity and in order to prevent a divisive succession battle within the Frente Amplio. A reform of the constitution is quite unlikely, however, as all of the opposition parties, as well as some members of the ruling coalition, have expressed their opposition to this idea. Vázquez himself ruled out that he would try to be reelected in a public address he made in June 2007.

A perceived strength of Vázquez is his ability to hold together in the Frente Amplio ruling coalition figures of greatly differing outlook such as José Mujica, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Juan Domínguez and Danilo Astori. Assuming that the Uruguayan constitution is not changed - against the wishes of Vázquez, in any case - in order to allow Vázquez to run again, another figure within the coalition who could similarly command such an ability had not clearly emerged. His apparently preferred successor is Danilo Astori, who is seen as a competent economic manager by those who prioritize such a qualification, but who is also distrusted on the Uruguayan Left, which made up a significant part of Vázquez's electoral base in 2005.

On December 4, 2008, Tabaré Vázquez renounced his positions at the Socialist Party, due to controversy after his position contrary to abortion.^[7]

Awards

In 2006, Vázquez was chosen to receive the World Health Organization Director General's Award in recognition of his leadership on tobacco control in Uruguay, which has implemented some of the most stringent tobacco control measures in the world ^[8].

Cabinet

References

See also

• List of national leaders
• Pedro Bordaberry#Foreign trips of President Tabaré Vázquez

External links

• (Spanish) Official site
• New leftist cabinet launched in Uruguay (Xinhua News Agency)
• Uruguay inaugurates first leftist president (The Globe and Mail)
• Left-wing Uruguay leader sworn in (BBC News)
• Uruguay joys over new president (BBC News)
• (Spanish) El Espectador: Tax Reform
• Leftist Chief Is Installed in Uruguay and Gets Busy on Agenda (The New York Times)
• (Spanish) Links for Plan de Emergencia Nacional

Presidents of Uruguay Luis Eduardo Perez · Fructuoso Rivera · Carlos Anaya · Manuel Oribe · Fructuoso Rivera · Juan Francisco Giró · Venancio Flores · Gabriel Antonio Pereira · Bernardo Berro · Lorenzo Batlle · José Ellauri · Pedro Varela · Lorenzo Latorre · Francisco Vidal · Miguel Alberto Flangini Ximénez · Máximo Santos · Francisco Vidal · Máximo Santos · Máximo Tajes · Julio Herrera y Obes · Juan Idiarte Borda · Juan Lindolfo Cuestas · José Batlle y Ordóñez · Feliciano Viera · Baltasar Brum · José Serrato · Juan Campisteguy · Gabriel Terra · Alfredo Baldomir · Juan José de Amézaga · Tomás Berreta · Luis Batlle Berres · Andrés Martínez Trueba · Consejo Nacional de Gobierno · Óscar Diego Gestido · Jorge Pacheco Areco · Juan María Bordaberry · Alberto Demichelli · Aparicio Méndez · Gregorio Álvarez · Rafael Addiego Bruno · Julio María Sanguinetti · Luis Alberto Lacalle · Julio María Sanguinetti · Jorge Batlle · Tabaré Vazquez ·

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