MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan main opposition leader praises pragmatism of president elect

Senator and ex president Luis Alberto Lacalle

Uruguay’s opposition main leader and former president Luis Alberto Lacalle (1990/1995) praised the pragmatism of president elect and former guerrilla leader Jose Pepe Mujica who will be taking office next March first.

“With president Mujica we have a very good relation, we’ve found the right tone for a good understanding”, said Lacalle from the conservative National party during an interview with a Montevideo radio station.

Lacalle who was sworn as Senator of the new parliament last Monday said that Mujica is a person which has displayed great pragmatism “and this distinguishes him from the rest of the political force that supports him and which he conducted to victory in the November elections”.

Mujica, 74 and Lacalle, 69 were the most voted candidates at the end of October and under Uruguayan legislation had a run-off at the end of November.

“We’ve found the right equilibrium and our chemistry is good” said Lacalle who recalled that both share recollections that help with political dialogue and negotiations. Mujica was born to politics with the National party in the fifties before joining the urban guerrilla National Liberation Movement Tupamaros.

The guerrillas took arms against Uruguayan democratically elected governments in the sixties and early seventies until defeated by police forces. But in 1973 a military coup put an end to Uruguay’s debilitated democracy until 1985.

Mujica as one of the guerrilla leaders was involved in kidnaps, bank robberies, and killings but was finally jailed for thirteen years until the 1985 amnesty.

Lacalle was a notorious political activist against the military dictatorship and was the target of several attacks by the repression forces during those years.