The leaders of the Broad Front issued their first reactions to the speech by President Luis Lacalle Pou for the two years of government with a central question focused on the lack of references to the increase in rates and the socioeconomic impact in the population.
“The government has a parallel reality”, attacked the president of the political force, Fernando Pereira, at a press conference a few minutes after the dissertation before the General Assembly ended. “Most of the Uruguayan men and women are earning less,” he criticized.
“The large numbers that President Lacalle is talking about have nothing to do with the reality of people who go to the store and now can buy less,” he said. “Clearly the level of consumption of Uruguayans fell compared to 2019,” Pereira said. “This is called a lack of justice, and when there is a lack of justice, there is pain, and when there is pain, there are parallel realities”finished.
Senator Mario Bergara, for his part, disagreed with what “was not mentioned” in the speech of more than an hour. “The issues that matter to the people are supposed to be discussed here. However, no mention was made of the reduction of salaries, of the reduction of liabilities, of the increase in taxes, of the increase in tariffs and in particular of fuels. If these things are not talked about, it is difficult to say that the issues that people care about were touched on here, “he concluded.
When asked about Lacalle’s commitment to lower the IASS and personal income tax in 2023 if the economy allows it, Bergara replied: “About announcements and promises in tax matters, they must be taken with a grain of salt, because in the 2019 electoral campaign he promised not to raise taxes and did not comply with it Taxes have risen either due to the installation of the covid-19 tax, either due to the refund of VAT on purchases with electronic means and also due to changes in the calculation methodology that makes it pay more personal income tax and more IASS”.
The senator of the MPP, Alejandro Sánchez, echoed the crutch “data, not a story” used on more than one occasion by the president, and wrote on Twitter: “Data and not a story.” In two years he increased fuel six times, a kilo of meat costs more than 400 pesos, a liter of oil 150, while salaries and pensions continue to drop. Who didn’t he put his hand in his pocket? To the gold mesh!”
