Colorado Party (Uruguay)

For the Paraguayan party of the same name, see Colorado Party (Paraguay).
Colorado Party
President Max Sapolinski
Founder Fructuoso Rivera
Founded 17 September 1836
Headquarters Martínez Trueba 1271, Montevideo, Uruguay
Youth wing Colorado Party Youth
Ideology Liberalism (Uruguay)
Political position Centre-right to Right-wing
International affiliation COPPPAL
Chamber of Deputies
13 / 99
Chamber of Senators
4 / 30
Party flag
Website
www.partidocolorado.com.uy
Politics of Uruguay
Political parties
Elections

The Colorado Party (Spanish: Partido Colorado, lit. "The Colored Party" or "The Red Party") is a political party in Uruguay.

Aims

It unites moderate and liberal groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic.

2004 national elections

At the last 2004 national elections, the Colorado Party won 10 seats out of 99 in the Chamber of Deputies and 3 seats out of 31 in the Senate. Its presidential candidate, Guillermo Stirling, won the same 10.4% of the popular vote.

Earlier history

The Colorado Party was founded in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 17 September 1836

Some of its major historical leaders were Fructuoso Rivera, Venancio Flores, José Batlle y Ordóñez, Luis Batlle Berres, Jorge Pacheco Areco, Juan María Bordaberry, Julio María Sanguinetti and Jorge Batlle.

The party has historically been the most elected party in Uruguayan history with almost uninterrupted dominance during the 20th century. The Colorados were in office from 1868 to 1959, when they were defeated by the Partido Nacional in the 1958 elections. They returned to office after the 1966 elections. They won the first elections at the end of the military dictatorship, in 1984. They went on to win the 1994 and 1999 elections.

Traditional rivals

From its birth until the last decades of the 20th century its traditional rival was the conservative Partido Nacional (also called Partido Blanco).

Post 2004: defeat at polls and rise of Pedro Bordaberry Herrán

The Colorado Party suffered its worst defeat ever in the 2004 national elections, with little over 10 per cent of the popular vote for its candidate Guillermo Stirling. Reasons for the party's weak results were many, but these include the economic crisis and old party leaders.

Currently, Colorado Pedro Bordaberry Herrán has a very strong personal following, and, backed by his Vamos Uruguay grouping, is the runaway favourite for the party's Presidential nomination in 2009, although the party itself is in weak opposition with only three out of thirty national Senators. Moreover, subsequent to his defeat in 2004, Guillermo Stirling endorsed Pedro Bordaberry's 'Vamos Uruguay' movement.

Bordaberry Herrán placed third in the 2009 presidential election, with 17 percent of the vote, behind José Mujica and Luis Alberto Lacalle. Bordaberry Herrán placed third again in the 2014 presidential election, with 13% of the vote.

See also

References