The Popular Union Party (UP) – Workers’ Front (FT), heading to the October elections, presents itself as the only one to propose a “left-wing electoral option” and urges to vote YES for the Social Security plebiscite now. Don’t be burdened by nighttime raids.
Gonzalo Martínez, candidate for president for UP–FT, on his electoral tour of the country, visited the department of Colonia and in dialogue with EL ECO he considered that we are facing “an electoral campaign, in general terms, very flat, de-ideologized and no proposals. This is fundamentally due to the fact that the two main candidates who have a chance of winning are willing to reproduce the same economic model, the same country model, despite the fact that each one later puts their own imprint, their nuance, their style on it. But in the essentials, they agree.”
He considers that during the campaign “it is difficult for there to be ideological discussions, substantive discussions, contrasting models, because the reality is that these two coalitions (the frontist coalition and the multicolor coalition) are not essentially opposed.”
Given the reality analyzed in this way, “a left-wing electoral option becomes much more valid for the October elections. That is where Unidad Popular Workers’ Front appears for the people, for the electorate and the people in general.”
The candidate emphasizes: “We are not like the chameleon who adjusts ourselves according to the moment or convenience. We believe it is necessary that the land belongs to Uruguay and that it be at the service of the workers and the Uruguayan people. It cannot be that more than 50% of the land has been foreignized, both in the Frente Amplio government and in the current administration, because this government has just sold 70,000 hectares to a North American company and 40,000 hectares to the Japanese. In other words, this government is doing the same thing that the Frente Amplio did.”
Social Security Plebiscite
Regarding the Social Security plebiscite, Martínez first points out that this issue represents a fundamental human right. “It cannot be privatized. No human right can be a commodity from which profits can be made. And unfortunately that is what AFAP means. They are private companies that work with the contribution of the workers, with a right such as social security.”
Martínez considers it vital to advance on other points. “For example, returning at 60 to retire. Because at this moment any worker who is over 60 years old and continues to be active is out of pure necessity, because their salary is insufficient and because their retirement is going to be even more insufficient. To the point that there are 300,000 retirees who are receiving less than 18,000 pesos. They are below the poverty line. In other words, about 50% of the pensions paid by the BPS are due to hunger.”
“The proposal of the plebiscite to equate the minimum retirement with the national minimum wage is a question of justice, of necessity.”
No to night raids
Popular Unity Against Workers opposes the plebiscite on night raids. “There is widespread unrest as a result of the social violence we have; this violence is based on economic inequality. To the extent that working families do not have access to decent housing, a plate of food every day, they do not have a decent salary, a decent job. Violence and crime become a way to resolve these needs. If we want to change reality from the point of view of violence, we must begin to change precisely the economic and material base on which our people find themselves. But, in addition, it is important to keep in mind that in Uruguay violence multiplies and worsens as a result of drug trafficking.”
To combat this scourge, we must “purge state institutions of corruption. We cannot continue giving passports to drug traffickers.
We have to strengthen Customs structures to have real control of the merchandise that passes through our territory. And obviously we must also carry out an entire policy of rehabilitation and reintegration of people, who today are deprived of liberty and who mostly have addiction or mental health problems. Proposing that night raids are the solution to this big problem is a big smoke bomb. Above all, because a few days ago we saw how the police carried out a raid on the same day, again at the wrong address, violating the family that lives in that home, destroying their property, stealing their savings and on top of that falsifying records, justifying the operation that was not was such. Therefore, if this situation occurs during the day, it will be much more dangerous at night.”
