Monday, November 30, 2009

Uruguay Elects a New President

There was quite a party Sunday night as thousands of Frente Amplio supporters took to the streets in Montevideo to celebrate the win of their presidential candidate, Pepe Mujica.


The results of the runoff followed pretty much just as the pre-election polls predicted. Mujica, the ex-guerilla fighter won 53 percent of the votes, beating out his opponent, Luis Lacalle.


Only minutes after Mujica was officially announced the winner of the election, a torrential downpour soaked the crowds gathered along the rambla. That didn't seem to bother anyone. In fact, soaking wet FA enthusiasts took to 18 de Julio (Montevideo's main street) celebrating the win of their party in a long victory march. Flags, fireworks, and Frente cheers abounding.


Mujica ended his short speech on election night with a phrase from Uruguay's national hero, Artigas, "ni vencedores ni vencidos"(There are neither victors nor those who have been defeated) in order to leave party differences aside and unite Uruguayans together under the new democratically elected leader.

3 comments:

  1. I like the photo of the guy's profile

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  2. I am a teacher in Boston and I am interested in visiting schools in Uruguay this July/August! My friend and I want to see what the schools are like in Uruguay and learning as much as we can about the school system. The only trouble is we are not sure how to find a school or get in touch with someone who can help us! If you think you can help us out, we would so appreciate it! My friend is fluent in Spanish and I am an intermediate speaker. We found you while googling information about schools and Uruguay! My name is Megan and you can email me at msbaird@gmail.com. I hope to hear from you! (I couldn't find a way to email you on this blog. I promise I'm not weird or creepy!)

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  3. hey...just randomly surfed into your blog. I lived in Uruguay for a couple years a while back...it was a great experience. I remember how passionate the people were about politics, and even the Tupamaros (the guerrilla group which Mujica was a member of) still had their die-hard fans. I have pics of some interesting places in my archives, if you ever want to look.

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