Camilo dos Santos
Companions of the MPP highlighted him as a builder of the movement.
Leaders and militants of the Broad Front and the MPP were very moved by the death of what they said was an MPP builder and “an SUV.”
The majority stressed that the death was a “surprise”, although, as Graciela Villar explained to The Observerthis Saturday the senator had expressed feeling bad, “like tired”, in an act for the Yes to the referendum against the Law of Urgent Consideration in which he participated.
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Mujica did not want to give statements.
“Despite feeling bad, he was wrong until the end of the activity and read and explained all the articles. He spoke of his process as Prime Minister of Labor in a progressive force and of his two periods as Minister of the Interior. He once again demonstrated his tireless vocation to continue fighting and transforming society,” Villar stressed, adding that “this is a loss for the entire popular movement, because of its history, its role in progressive governments and above all because of its humility to work”.
Camilo dos Santos
Bonomi will be buried in the Buceo Cemetery.
An all terrain
The mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, said that she went to fire Bonomi as a member of the Frente Amplio party and not as a head of the administration. She also maintained that Bonomi was a great colleague and Minister of Labor. “With him as Minister of Labor, the collective agreements returned,” he recalled.
He added that He was “an all-rounder and very stubborn, but a good companion who said what he thought” and who left “the example of commitment, of fighting until the last moment” for future generations.
MPP senator Alejandro Pacha Sánchez added that Bonomi “always put his life at the service of the most humble”. He indicated that they remember him “raising the flags” because he was active until yesterday, which leaves them with a lesson as a movement, he said. “It’s a big loss but the flags have to stay up,” he stressed.
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Neighbors accompanied the minister’s farewell from the balconies.
A bucket of cold water
Daniel Cagiani, also a senator, agreed with Sánchez and said that the news “was a bucket of cold water.”
“For us, Eduardo Bonomi was a natural historical and political reference. We want to take from him that of building with the humblest, working towards a more inclusive Uruguay,” he said and He stressed that he was a reference as the founder of the MPP and “a mainstay of the Broad Front.”
“We want Bonomi’s first ministry to be valued, a Ministry of Labor that revolutionized labor relations in the world and especially in Uruguay, and his efforts in the Ministry of the Interior that some dedicated themselves to attacking,” he added.
For its part, Juan Raúl Ferreira, who was very moved, said that “he didn’t shut up” and that “he couldn’t believe” when he heard the news this morning, since he spoke daily with Bonomi.
“He made me his adviser on international affairs issues, which is why we saw each other a lot. He was a man who could take ideas and quickly transform them into tactics and strategy in very simple language. It’s going to cost me a lot to get used to this idea, I woke up with this news and I still haven’t dropped the tab”, he commented.
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Juan Raúl Ferreria remembered Bonomi with great emotion.
“Constancy, intelligence and stubbornness”
Ernesto Agazzi also remembered Bonomi, who was his partner in militancy, in politics and during the years of dictatorship when he joined the MLN. “El Bicho dedicated his life to a cause and gave it all. He was the builder of the MPP. He left us many things to his colleagues in the cause: perseverance, applying intelligence to solve difficult situations and stubbornness.”
As he said, Bonomi lived “collective life in his own way”, playing in Wanderers, in the Veterinary Student Association, in student mobilizations, the militancy of the MLN, in corporate life and in prison. “In prison he was one of the companions who helped resist that personality destruction machine that had been set up.”
For Agazzi, Bonomi as Minister of the Interior acted “very well, with a lot of foundation, on a very important issue that cost him his blood pressure, cholesterol, the functioning of his heart and his life. But he did it with great happiness. It was not man to grab the ripe ones, if he had to grab the green ones he would do it”.
The leader said that a not so well-known part of the former minister and senator is that he was “a great writer and a colleague who always seemed to be building walls.” For the militants of the MPP, “recognizing that, coming to fire him and following the example he set, is an obligation,” he remarked.
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The former minister and senator was dismissed with applause.
With applause across the block
Other politicians who were present were Yamandú Orsi, mayor of Canelones; Oscar Andrade, senator; Daniel Garín, president of the Metropolitan Agrifood Unit; and Ricardo Erlich. In addition to the militants and leaders who accompanied, several residents of the block went out to their balconies at the time of finishing the farewell.
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Several leaders, such as Óscar Andrade, came to the MPP.
Mujica, who sat alone and in silence to say goodbye to Bonomi, left the venue after a while and stayed in a car in front of the place until the wake ended. Neither the president nor his wife wanted to speak to the press.
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Topolansky and Mujica attended the farewell.
The block was filled with applause when the senator’s body was removed from the MPP headquarters. After the farewell, he was taken to the Legislative Palace, since from 3:30 p.m. there will be a farewell in the Hall of Lost Steps. After that activity, the funeral will be held in the Buceo cemetery at 6:30 p.m.
