Streets of Montevideo, especially around Avenue 18th of July, one could only hear honks and Montevideans singing along: "Ya lo ve, ya lo ve; el Presidente es Tabaré!" It was the first hours of March 1st, the long awaited date for Uruguayans all around the nation, when the Progressive Encounter/Broad Front/New Majority’s candidate, 64 year-old oncologist Tabaré Vázquez is due at the Presidential palace.
"Thanks for changing mom" reads one of the placards, flags were everywhere, and after a long time, Montevideans were really celebrating this victory. In the last 7 years, this is the forth Latin American country where the left has won with popularity against the traditional center and rightwing parties. This is just one of many ways Latin Americans are responding against the Neoliberal plans and free trade agreements the United States has been imposing the region since the late 70’s.
The pre-celebrations lasted all the way into the morning and after a brief rest, once again the streets were filled, with many fiestas all around Montevideo, in the parks, streets and homes; Roughly translates into “As I can see, the President is Tabare!”
The streets and the faces were decorated with the party’s colors. Vázquez spoke at the congress, entoured by fellow presidents of the region and later he mingled with public in the streets of capital. Montevideans have been waiting for this fiesta for little more than a hundred years. "As you can see, everybody is happy, this is a historical moment for us, this is the first time that this government came here, and we were very excited for this, it is more than one hundred years waiting for this, so I don’t know, I hope the new President Tabaré Vázquez is going to make our wishes possible," commented one of my interviewees, Paula, during the inauguration.
A young supporter of the FA, Juan Correro said, "I am very happy, this is a new beginning for Uruguay, I don’t know what to say, but we are very very happy!"
The new left-wing government brings a lot of hope and enthusiasm to Uruguayans. It has been announced that the new government will reestablish political relations with Fidel Castro’s Cuba and bring social reforms to the country immediately.
Elena Morales on the other hand had more focused and simple demands from the new government. "I hope that this government, do, with honesty, bring food and work to everybody."
