Four former elected Uruguayan presidents openly discussed Mercosur revealing an overall disenchantment with the regional political and trade group but with different emphasis as to what was the path to follow.
Uruguay’s Lower House of parliament was discussing on Tuesday night the legalization of abortion for which the ruling coalition was counting on having the sufficient votes. If finally approved Uruguay would join Cuba, which has made abortions accessible to all women during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Former president Tabare Vazquez is the most popular politician in Uruguay with 65% support followed by the current head of state Jose Mujica with 50% and Vice-president Danilo Astori, 48%, according to an opinion poll from Equipos Mori and published over the weekend in the Montevideo media.
Mistrust towards Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has again peaked in August and now stands at 52% while those trusting him are 39% with the remaining 8% saying they don’t know or prefer to remain quiet, according to the latest public opinion poll released this week in Montevideo.
The Uruguayan government announced it will auction next 3 September the seven Bombardier aircraft from the collapsed flag air-carrier Pluna, which was definitively grounded last July 5, announced Public Works and Transport minister Enrique Pintado.
Three former Uruguayan presidents recommended the current administration that without abandoning Mercosur, it should look at major trade blocks associations but at the same time a strong self criticism is needed because maybe the problem is not in Mercosur but in Uruguay.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica currently visiting Germany said that relations with Argentine are very good and forecasted that President Cristina Fernandez will win he re-election bid next Sunday as he had anticipated two years ago.
Former Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez (2005/2010) apologized on Thursday for his statements on a “was hypothesis” with Argentina in 2006 saying they had been ‘inopportune’ and announced he was retiring from public politics activities.
The governments of Uruguay and Argentina have decided to ignore the controversy born out of statements from former President Tabare Vazquez who said that during the Botnia-UPM pulp plant conflict, back in 2006/07, he did not discard a “war hypothesis” given the aggressive attitude of Argentina and for which he had requested support from the Bush administration.
One of the world’s biggest tobacco companies is launching a claim against Uruguay for considering the country’s legislation commercially damaging to the company. Philip Morris corporation has filed a claim at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank branch.