The debate between the senators Óscar Andrade and Guido Manini Ríos for the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) had, in addition to the television exchange, a dispute at the level of the social media. Each outstanding phrase of the Frente Amplio legislator was followed by a tweet that briefly summarized his point of view, added to the endorsement of other leaders of the Broad Front. The same strategy was used by the lobbyist leader’s team, who opted for Facebook as the mother network to share messages and try to convince voters, although he did not have the same support from the government coalition.
In the first block of the exchange, both legislators spoke about public safety. In the case of Manini, who was the one who started the debate, his speech pointed to the problems of insecurity that, he observed, the administrations of the Broad Front had, pointing out that this had been one of the main reasons that led the citizens to choose the change of government. during the 2019 elections.
A few minutes after he assured that the LUC favored the “honest population“, a fragment of his speech was already summarized on his Facebook: “This law protects honest citizens and the most vulnerable. It favors the most fragile, those who cannot afford private security, cannot be fenced, cannot pay expensive alarms or depend on the proper functioning of the police and justice to live in peace.”
Also, from Andrade’s Twitter account Another part of the debate was published, in which the legislator insisted that the articles under discussion were a “setback for public safety”, but the end of his oratory could not be heard due to a malfunction in the transmission’s audio. That tweet was preceded by others that include one of his phrases from the day: “To protect the police, what you have to do is not give them expired vests, not lower their salary.”
The next point, referring to housing, had the communist senator affirming that the LUC accumulates “fierce” and “cruel” initiativeswith “absolute discretion” for the terms of eviction. Andrade spoke directly to the citizens and expressed that on the last Sunday in March, Uruguayans will have to be legislators: “Would you vote for such a treatment?” He asked himself. Meanwhile, his account published a flyer with the letter “the LUC accumulates a set of measures that are fierce for rent, for bad and good payers. The default that is established is pure usury”, accompanied by retweets to mentions of the profile Broad Front officer.
On the other hand, Manini Ríos replied on Facebook: “The LUC seeks to give guarantees to the small owner who rents and gives opportunities to rent to those who do not have guarantees. Before the LUC, rentals without guarantees were without a registered contract, constituting a situation of greater fragility for the tenant”, followed by a 38-second snippet.
That block added two new protagonists: Legislator Alejandro “Pacha” Sánchez, who retorted the lobbying senator one of his statements. “What I said and I repeat is that this law only serves speculators, it does not serve tenants or small owners who have a house to rent.”
And the senator of the National Party Sebastián Da Silva, who called Andrade “predictable”, but limited himself to highlighting Manini’s speech, as some of his colleagues did. “Andrade is so predictable, he throws out incontrovertible data, he even talks about Vienna. It’s a shame he didn’t want to debate in Blanquillo”he specified.
Manini continued to emphasize -through his Facebook- the positive effects of the LUC on education: “This government inherited an education in frank decline, large sectors of our society are increasingly relegated for not having access to quality education. It is necessary to break the resistance to change, which is what has stopped innovation time and time again. This is the beginning of a necessary path that the country urgently needs,” he wrote in that network.
Andrade, for his part, responded with another piece of the debate, in which he recalls one of the phrases used by the former presidential candidate, during 2019: “‘The educational reform will not be possible without the participation of all the actors involved, in particular the teachers’. And what the LUC is doing is testing an educational reform against the community,” he said. His team accompanied the moment with a message that summarized that one and a half minute fragment: “They are rehearsing an educational reform in the LUC because it is urgent, but the coordinating commission that created the law has not met even once.”
While the instance was taking place, the secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado wrote a traced text on his Twitter and Facebook accounts: “Río Negro #NoDeroga. Thanks to the residents of Fray Bentos for their commitment to change. With La Celeste #GanamosTodos.” Minutes later, the president of the National Party Board of Directors, Pablo Iturralde, appeared to declare: “RÍO NEGRO – Fray Bentos | we closed the tour of the department together with the comrades who toured 11 locations during the day. On the 27th we voted NO.”
Andrade and Manini, each one for their preferred network, continued to use their accounts to present their points when talking about labor relations. Unlike the Cabildo Abierto legislator, the communist included the final seconds of his opponent’s statement on several occasions to give context to the video and then enhance his message.
Manini Ríos, who alternated between flyers and cropped fragments, only published images and videos of himself. He received the support of the Minister of Public Health, Daniel Salinas and the endorsement of his own party, in addition to the recognition of deputies Álvaro Perrone and Gustavo Zubía.
The Frente Amplio senator was recognized in networks by the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, the former Minister of Economy and director of OPP Álvaro García, Senator Mario Bergara and legislators Daniel Olesker, Cecilia Bottino, Sebastián Valdomir, Enzo Malán, Bettiana Díaz, Gabriel Tinaglini, José Carlos Mahía, among others.
