This Monday, March 14, a new debate was held on the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) that was broadcast on Channel 5 and in which the senator from the Broad Front Liliam Kechichián and the senator from the Colorado Party Germán Coutinho participated. The topics chosen were: security and housing.
Coutinho denounced that the Broad Front did not take charge of security and stressed that the multicolored coalition was not created to win the election but to reduce crime.
“They spoke of ‘easy trigger’ and that did not happen, in addition the seizures decreased, Uruguay is a safer country and now the police authority is supported,” said the Colorado legislator.
In his turn, Kechichián affirmed that security “is a serious and painful problem for society”, and remarked that the FA has taken charge.
He questioned that the LUC was presented at a time of pandemic and was dealt with in 45 days in each legislative chamber. “Since 1985 there have been 13 emergency laws that added together have the same number of articles as the LUC.”
The legislator stated that in the FA governments “police salaries were increased, night shifts were recognized, more penitentiary places were created and drug trafficking was decisively combated.”
Kechichián remarked that in the LUC there is a “gross disproportion” between the great penalties established for “micro-trafficking” and large-scale drug trafficking, because a single woman with 4 grams of marijuana is sanctioned more than a large half-ton drug trafficker. of cocaine.
Meanwhile, Coutinho said that those who voted for the most increases in sentences were the members of the Front and the solution was not there, in addition, the police union is asking that the articles of the LUC not be repealed.
“They had taken command and support from the police. The FA Budget was squandered and, in addition, drug trafficking grew and express kidnapping and account adjustments appeared,” questioned the Colorado parliamentarian, who added that now “homicides, thefts and robberies have decreased.”
But the legislator of the Broad Front questioned the drop in robberies and said that crimes in Chile fell but it was due to the effect of the pandemic and the lack of mobility.
“In the last quarter, in Uruguay, crimes rose to the same level as the pre-pandemic,” he indicated.
Coutinho said: “Today we live safer and without fear, with more support for the police authority. Today we have a government in charge and in command. We are living in a much safer country than in the FA government”.
Kechichián stated: “On March 28 we should all be together looking for solutions that are not those of the LUC, because weapons are put into the hands of retired police officers that will be a tragedy for Uruguay. The FA eliminated corruption in the police and now there are abuses of functions that the minister does not investigate.
The Colorado Party parliamentarian noted that there is a “smear campaign against the police to which they now add corruption and abuse.” He said that in the FA governments “the police took to the streets without the support of the Ministry and were killed. The FA left behind settling scores, express kidnapping and drug trafficking.”
Faced with this statement, the Broad Front legislator clarified that her party is in favor of good police officers, who are the majority, and clarified that “there are crimes that appeared in the 90s, such as drug trafficking.” She remarked that the FA left a police force with uniforms, new police stations, technology, training”.
living place
On the other hand, during the debate the legislators referred to the articles referring to housing. In this framework, Kechichián said that it is incredible that in the housing chapter, when talking about a housing emergency, only the “express eviction that is bloody” is incorporated. He indicated that “the rent without guarantee is not subject to a referendum, because there is already a Law for it.”
He lamented that any Uruguayan can collect his salary six days late and then he can be evicted, and remarked that the FA also protects owners who want “security, a longer term and guarantees. There is no housing policy. There is a budget cut.
Coutinho said that “15 years of FA governments were a long time for these issues not to be considered urgent.”
“We have more than 180,000 Uruguayans living in irregular settlements, which is why it is urgent. This is not an improvisation. There are Uruguayans who need a housing mechanism and this does not replace the previous rental systems. It is to create one more option so that young people from the interior or immigrants do not require a guarantee”, he explained, adding that “there were only 28 cases of evictions”.
Kechichián said that rent without guarantee already existed, so it is nothing new. “What is new is that the judge will decree the eviction of the bad payer in six business days.”
He added that between 2006 and 2012 the settlements fell 8% and went from 0.2% to 0.6 of the GDP for Housing, while today there is only one tender for 71 homes.
But Coutinho remarked that “housing solutions for many Uruguayans are in process or being executed.”
