According to a statement posted on its website, the FA believes that “Uruguay needs to reach agreements on security that are sustainable and to do so we must promote responsible debates.” Although night raids already exist in certain cases, the FA states that this type of measure must be implemented in a regulated framework and with a serious debate.
On October 27, Uruguayan citizens will vote on a constitutional change that would allow nighttime searches of homes. According to the FA, this discussion has been started with electoral motivations and “is not taking place in the most appropriate setting for a frank, informed and honest debate.”
In its statement, the Frente Amplio questions the effectiveness of night raids to combat drug trafficking, pointing out that “associating the idea that this mechanism is the missing instrument to end drug trafficking is, in addition to a demagogic proposal, an idea that has no empirical basis.” The FA also expresses its concern about the lack of a clear proposal for regulation that ensures an adequate and measured use of this tool.
The Frente Amplio also criticizes the current government’s approach, considering that it seeks to “generate the illusion and hope that through this mechanism the dramatic reality of security in Uruguay can be changed, as they tried to do in the past with the Urgent Consideration Law (LUC).” However, the FA does not completely rule out the possibility of using night raids, as long as they are applied in a professional manner and based on a criminal policy “centered on the defense of life.”
The statement concludes by highlighting the need for a broader and more technical approach to address the problem of security in Uruguay. “The current debate in Uruguay should distinguish three levels for the purposes of an honest, informed and in-depth discussion,” says the FA, referring to the relevance of night raids, procedural requirements and state security policy. Based on this, the FA states that “we do not support this initiative for constitutional reform” since, as it is presented, it does not consider it to be “the best way to solve the serious security problems that Uruguay has today.”
