Yamandú Orsí, the presidential candidate for the left-wing political party Broad Front of Uruguay (Frente Amplio), has described the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as an “authoritarian regime” and called the political situation in the country “vulnerable “.
The opposition candidate added that, if he had to choose between describing Venezuela as a dictatorship or a democracy, he would “of course” describe it as a dictatorship, but clarified that “to really understand it, we have to we are very precise in analyzing what is the central characteristic of that authoritarian regime, to see what the solution might be,” according to the newspaper. country.
Orsi has previously been criticized for his failure to explicitly label Maduro’s government a dictatorship. In March, he accused Maduro of “fraud” by barring his opponents from running.
The comments prompted condemnation from the ruling National Party’s presidential candidate, Alvaro Delgado. “Why does the Broad Front find it so difficult to define Venezuela as a dictatorship? What agreement do they have with Maduro?”, he asked. “It’s not just ‘fraud’. When there are no open elections, it’s dictatorship, in any part of the world.”
Adolfo Garce, a political scientist from the University of the Republic in Montevideo, said Latin American Reports that Orsi’s “ambiguity” about the Maduro regime can be attributed to the “ideological contradictions” that exist on the Uruguayan left, especially the Broad Front.
He explained that “very different visions” have “co-existed and competed” in the Uruguayan left, with members of the Broad Front ranging from centrist to strongly anti-capitalist. Thus, Orsi “must constantly balance voters and activists with different visions on the relevant issues”.
Garce added that another reason Orsi is reluctant to explicitly label Venezuela a dictatorship is that the government of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, was “generous” to the Broad Front while in power. Chavéz had a “very good relationship” with former Broad Front presidents Tabaré Vázquez and José Mujica.
Maduro’s claim that he won the July 28 election has been rejected by various leaders, with 10 Latin American governments and the United States releasing a statement in late July calling for an “impartial and independent audit” of votes.
Among the Latin American leaders who did not sign the declaration were the left-wing presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. However, they have said they will not recognize Maduro’s re-election unless they see detailed vote data.
Regardless, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have been subject to criticism for their perceived failures to condemn the Maduro regime. In July, López Obrador claimed there was no “evidence” or “proof” of electoral fraud in Venezuela, while Lula described Maduro in August as leading “a very unpleasant regime”, although he said it was “different” from a dictatorship.
