2023-11-11 05:01:00
He founded the Uruguayan Broad Front in 1971, he was vice president of José Mujica, twice Minister of Economy of Tabaré Vázquez for 10 years and senator: very few politicians in the modern history of Uruguay had the specific weight of the economist and accountant Danilo Astori, who died this year. Friday in Montevideo at 83 years old.
He was a young prodigy in his science, dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of the Republic, at 32 years of age in 1972: he did not last long due to the arrival of the military dictatorship in 1973 (he resumed the position between 1985 and 1989). .
Criticism from the left
Astori had his detractors during moments of internal tension in the Frente Amplio. He considered himself a social democrat, while the left wing of the coalition called him neoliberal. But on the 50th anniversary of the coalition in 2021 – after having held government positions for fifteen years – Astori maintained that this political force synthesizes “the hope” of achieving levels of economic, social and human development: “I see the Front “Broad as the fundamental political tool to change reality. My dream is for it to be an increasingly bigger and better party in terms of the quality of the politics it practices.” That force spared no praise when in 2022 Astori finished his work as senator after more than two years without being able to go to the House due to a health problem.
The FA statement
A statement from the Political Table of the Frente Amplio maintains that Astori was key in the construction of half a century of unity of the party “and it is in that unity that we achieved the Government, with Danilo as a guarantee of stability, a fundamental pillar of 15 continuous years of growth of the party. the economy with social justice that allowed us to reduce poverty, reduce inequality, increase salaries above inflation, improving the quality of life of workers and retirees.”
Astori’s two administrations in Economy (2005 to 2010 and 2015 to 2020) placed emphasis on fiscal restriction, which generated clashes with sectors of the Broad Front. At the same time he increased the health and education budgets, and the salaries of public employees.
The word of Mujica and Sanguinetti
When the news of his death became known, he was fired with messages from former presidents José Mujica and Julio María Sanguinetti. “I feel a lot of pain. When I came in here, they announced to me that he had left,” Mujica said and added: “I had differences many times, but thank goodness I was there. A colleague left, a value from the country left and a piece of ourselves.” Mujica also confessed that he spoke with his heart and not his head, while remarking that the news was “very strong” for him. “At some point we will be able to talk more objectively,” he concluded.
Sanguinetti defined Astori as “a fundamental figure in what I consider the modernization of the Uruguayan left. That is, the development of compatibility between the market economy and social ideas, the welfare state that we have tried to build. In throughout this process, Astori has been a fundamental actor in thought, exercising intellectual leadership.
The defeats
Among his defeats, the deceased was a candidate for vice president in 1989 accompanying General Líber Seregni. He also lost the internal election of the Frente Amplio in 2009 against José Mujica for the presidential candidacy, who immediately offered him the vice presidency: together they achieved the historic victory in the runoff where they defeated the conservative with 52 percent compared to 43 percent. Lacalle Larrañaga.
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