Contenido creado por Jimena Rodríguez
Política

First words...

Mujica´s inaugural speech

"We discovered that governing is much harder than we thought. That resources are finite and social demands infinite, that macroeconomics has ungrateful rules, but these are mandatory. We had to learn with pain and shame that not all our people were immune to corruption" said Mujica in his Inaugural speech.

01.03.2010 19:09

Lectura: 7'

2010-03-01T19:09:00-03:00
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José Mujica and Danilo Astori took oath today at the legislative palace, in front of Lucía Topolansky, receiving their respective positions of President and Vice President of Uruguay. After the oath, the new president gave a long speech.

After greeting all those present, from foreign delegations to Uruguayan political leaders, José Mujica thanked everyone. "those who are with us from their homes, from the street. My legal knowledge is very little and it prevents me from knowing which is the exact moment in which I stop being the President Elect and become the President. I don't know if that's now or if it's in a little while when I receive the symbols of the presidency. I wish that the title of elect didn't disappear. It reminds me that I'm president only because that was the will of voters. It warns me not to get distracted."

With better words and more solemnity, this is what the constitution establishes, in a framework, a contract, a limit that contains governments. It's a program that organizes our behavior. It tells us literally to avoid making prisons a tool for mortification or it tells us not to acknowledge any differences of race, gender or color. We've got so much debt with our constitution, we disobey it so naturally! It's worth remembering nowadays", he started.

"I'd like to believe that this is the inaugural session of a 30 year government, not mine, not of FA; but of a system of political parties that is so wise and powerful that it can generate hermetic tunnels that go through different presidencies, and through that tunnel we can see the great strategic lines of issues like health, security, energy etc. It's not a reflection for bronze or for posterity: it's a declaration of our intentions.

In this administration, some of us will take the nuts and others the bolts. This is the tone the next administration will have, attending the negotiation tables, with a vocation for reaching agreements.

Maybe we will have more bolts than PN PC or the Independent party, more than companies and unions, but what are loose bolts good for if they can't find their complementary pieces in society?"
(...) "we want transformation and real progress, and we want changes that you can touch, that affect the lives of people. In order to achieve this we think we need a civilized political co-existence. None of this starts with us. The country has beautiful traditions of reciprocal respect that go back a long way, but we have probably never been so close to achieving a qualitative change in the bond between our political parties. Maybe we can go from tolerance to collaboration...

(...) FA. Had to accept some tough lessons not only from voters but from reality. We discovered that governing is much harder than we thought. That resources are finite and social demands infinite, that macroeconomics has ungrateful rules, but these are mandatory. We had to learn with pain and shame that not all our people were immune to corruption. It's probable that we will be more mature and so ready to go on to a qualitatively new stage".

José Mujica then spoke about the four main issues over which inter -party agreements had been made.
The first, specially highlighted by Mujica was "Education, Education and more Education." "Governors should be obliged to sit down and write every morning like at school "I must do something about education" because a good part of the productive potential of a country and the future attitude of our people for daily co existence depends on it".

The second issue was energy, which he said was "an issue full of technical complications, it implies complex forecasts about stock of non renewable resources and almost guesses about what the development of solar and eolic energy has in store for us. But after all the engineers and predictors of the future give their verdict, politics will have to be responsible for strategic definitions about issues over which society will be divided ".

The third issue addressed was the environment, where he stated "the country has incorporated coherence, has legislated wisely and has operated decisively and transparently, however the tension between looking after the environment and productive expansion will only increase.

"Regarding these issues, drums of war are starting to be heard, a conceptual war fortunately, among pro production and pro preservation. The state will arbitrate and make decisions, be they what they may, and it will have to have political backing. To take care of the environment we will have to give up some promises of productivity and vice versa. It's an important decision, we have to make the decision together and face the consequences together" he said.

The final issue, and the one he said was most immediate: Citizen Safety. "We wouldn't include it if it were only about increasing the fight against traditional delinquency. But this is not a scenario of growing numbers, but one of qualitative change: there are drugs like base paste, of a low cost, that not only destroy the addicts but also make them violent. There are mafias which are getting wealthy, capable of generating corruption".


About the global situation

"We're not inventing anything" he continued. "We're humbly following other small countries like Denmark and new Zealand. We're going for an agro-intelligent country. We're not going to wait with our arms crossed until our destiny or markets are brought to us. We're going to go and get them with decision and maturity.

(...)What world do we live in friends? It's difficult to know. You won't be able to give me a simple answer, because it's constantly changing, and the theory of how to construct a better world keeps changing too. We are still suffering the consequences of the planetary crisis that the financial system gave us. During the crisis, and in order to save what was left, some of the dogmas were broken. We turned to politics as a shelter of hope (...) looking now at the stars, there are few certainties left: for example, globalization is an irreversible fact. We have become dependent in every way humanly possible, whether we like it or not. The idea of closing up to the world is now obsolete.
Latin America.

"Let's not lose hope, because some feelings are still alive, from Río Bravo to the Falklands there is only one nation: the Latin American nation. For us the Mercosur is ‘until death do us part' and we hope to have a reciprocal attitude. I hope the bicentenary finds us with a narrower Rio de la Plata, with clear skies and clear paths".

(...) We didn't win this government, we inherited it in great part. The main reason of our arrival here is the success of the first government of FA, led by Doctor Tabaré Vazquez" he concluded in his first speech as president.

Traducción: INC