Broad Front (Uruguay)
Encyclopedia
The Broad Front is a Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

an left-wing coalition of political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

. It is led by Jorge Brovetto. Frente Amplio has close ties with PIT-CNT trade union and the cooperative housing movement.

History

Frente Amplio was founded as a coalition of more than a dozen fractured leftist parties and movements in 1971. The first president of the front and its first candidate for the presidency of the country was General Liber Seregni
Líber Seregni
Líber Seregni Mosquera , was an Uruguayan military officer and politician. In his youth he a was a member of the Colorado Party. Under successive governments of that party, he had a successful military career until his retirement in 1968...

. The front was declared illegal during 1973 military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

of and emerged again in 1984 when democracy was restored in Uruguay.

In 1994 Progressive Encounter (Encuentro Progresista) was formed by several minor independent factions and the Frente Amplio. EP and FA started contesting elections jointly under the name Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio. Later another force, Nuevo Espacio, became linked to the front. Thus it started contesting elections as Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio - Nueva Mayoria.

In 2005 member organizations of Progressive Encounter and New Majority (essentially Nuevo Espacio) merged into the front, and the coalition took the name of the larger force, Frente Amplio. Previously, EP and later NM had been allied with FA but organizationally separate structures.

At the 2004 general election, the party won 51.7% of the popular vote and 52 out of 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 17 out of 31 in the Senate, while its presidential candidate, Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas is a former President of Uruguay. A physician by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition . Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010...

, won the presidential election. The Front retained its majority and the presidency in the 2009 election
Uruguayan general election, 2009
General elections for President and Parliament took place in Uruguay on 25 October and 29 November 2009. In parliamentary election results, the Broad Front emerged the winner, electing 16 senators and 50 deputies, while the National Party elected 9 senators and 30 deputies, the Colorado Party 5...

 with José Mujica
José Mujica
José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano is a Uruguayan politician and former guerrilla fighter, a member of the Broad Front and current President of Uruguay....

 elected as president.

The alliance is - as far as available - formed by:
  • Asamblea Uruguay (Uruguay Assembly
    Uruguay Assembly
    The Uruguay Assembly is a social-democratic political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front. Its leader is the senator and former minister of economy of Uruguay, Danilo Astori....

    ) led by Danilo Astori
    Danilo Astori
    Danilo Astori is a Uruguayan social democratic politician who was the Minister of Economics and Finance of Uruguay from 2005 to 2008...

  • Partido Socialista del Uruguay (Socialist Party of Uruguay
    Socialist Party of Uruguay
    The Socialist Party of Uruguay is an Uruguayan political party founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokesman was Dr Emilio Frugoni, the most prominent advocate of socialist ideas in Uruguay....

    ) led by Daniel Martínez
  • Partido Comunista del Uruguay (Communist Party of Uruguay
    Communist Party of Uruguay
    The Communist Party of Uruguay is a communist political party in Uruguay, created on September 21, 1920. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front.The current PCU secretary-general is ....

    ) led by Eduardo Lorier
  • Corriente 78 (Current 78
    Current 78
    The Current 78 is a progressive political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front Progressive Encounter-New Majority....

    )
  • Nuevo Espacio (New Space) led by Rafael Michelini
    Rafael Michelini
    Rafael Michelini Delle Piane is a Uruguayan politician. He is currently Senator of the Republic of Uruguay as a member of the Frente Amplio party, and was the founder of New Space party. He was the seventh of ten children, and is the son of Zelmar Michelini, a former senator who was assassinated...

  • Vertiente Artiguista (Artiguist Stream
    Vertiente Artiguista
    The Vertiente Artiguista is a social-democratic political party in Uruguay led by Joel Parnell....

    ) led by Enrique Rubio
  • Movimiento de Participación Popular (Movement of Popular Participation
    Movement of Popular Participation
    The Movement of Popular Participation is a Uruguayan political party. It is a member organisation of the ruling left-wing party Broad Front.- Background :...

    ) led by Lucía Topolansky
    Lucía Topolansky
    Lucía Topolansky is a Uruguayan Senator, wife of Uruguay's President José Mujica and the First Lady of Uruguay.- Background :During her childhood she studied in the College Sacré Cœur de las Hermanas Dominicas in Montevideo with her twin sister...

  • Partido Demócrata Cristiano del Uruguay (Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
    Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
    The Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay is a political party of the Christian Left.-Affiliation:...

    )
  • Partido de los Comunes (Party of the Communes
    Party of the Communes
    The Party of the Communes is a progressive political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front Progressive Encounter-New Majority and represents local administrations.-External links:*...

    )
  • Confluencia Frenteamplio (Broad Front Confluence
    Broad Front Confluence
    The Broad Front Confluence is a socialist political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front Progressive Encounter-New Majority....

    )
  • Alianza Progresista (Progressive Alliance
    Progressive Alliance (Uruguay)
    The Progressive Alliance is a social-democratic political party of Uruguay founded in 1999 by the former Vice President Rodolfo Nin Novoa, since then is part of the Frente Amplio....

    ) led by Rodolfo Nin Novoa
    Rodolfo Nin Novoa
    Rodolfo Nin Novoa is the former Vice President of Uruguay, he is the leader of Progressive Alliance.-Background:He was born in mixed Armenian- Spanish family. Having originally received a traditional, Roman Catholic education, Nin was a member of the National Party and mayor in his department ....


Splits

Along its history, despite the fact of constantly attracting political factions from other parties, the Broad Front suffered some splits as well:
  • In 1989, the Party for the Government of the People
    Party for the Government of the People
    The Party for the Government of the People —in Spanish: Partido por el Gobierno del Pueblo—was a social democratic political party in Uruguay. It was originally the Movimiento por el Gobierno del Pueblo...

     and the Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
    Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
    The Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay is a political party of the Christian Left.-Affiliation:...

     left the Broad Front to conform a new moderate-left coalition.
  • In 1993, the extreme-leftist Oriental Revolutionary Movement
    Oriental Revolutionary Movement
    Oriental Revolutionary Movement is a left-wing political movement in Uruguay. The organization is led by Ariel Collazo...

     split and formed a political party on its own.
  • In April 2006 there was another split from the extreme left: the March 26 Movement
    March 26 Movement
    The March 26 Movement is a leftist political party in Uruguay, which emerged out the Tupamaros. Since its foundation in 1971 until March 2008 was a member organisation of the Broad Front. After that the M26 founded a new party called "Asamblea Popular" in cooperation with other leftwing groups....

     and other groups left and formed a new coalition, Popular Assembly
    Popular Assembly
    The Popular Assembly is a socialist electoral coalition in Uruguay.The party was founded in April 2006, as a more left-wing alternative to the Broad Front. It is supported by the Revolutionary Communist Party of Uruguay, the Humanist Party of Uruguay and other left-wing groups, including several...

    .

Ideology

The Broad Front consists primarily of progressive and political parties. However, in government it has tended to follow policies favouring a market economy with expanded social programs. Not all the parties in the Broad Front can be considered left-wing, indeed some lean towards fiscal conservatism or social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

. Uruguay Assembly
Uruguay Assembly
The Uruguay Assembly is a social-democratic political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front. Its leader is the senator and former minister of economy of Uruguay, Danilo Astori....

 of Danilo Astori
Danilo Astori
Danilo Astori is a Uruguayan social democratic politician who was the Minister of Economics and Finance of Uruguay from 2005 to 2008...

 can be considered a centrist party and Astori has followed fiscal conservative policies as finance minister, whereas the Christian Democratic Party
Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
The Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay is a political party of the Christian Left.-Affiliation:...

 is vocally opposed to abortion. Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas is a former President of Uruguay. A physician by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition . Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010...

 during his presidency maintained his pro-life stance, in contrast to the stance of many in his own Socialist Party
Socialist Party of Uruguay
The Socialist Party of Uruguay is an Uruguayan political party founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokesman was Dr Emilio Frugoni, the most prominent advocate of socialist ideas in Uruguay....

, leading him to leave his positions in the party http://www.nowpublic.com/world/uruguay-president-tabare-vazquez-leaves-party-chief-post-after-vetoing-abortion.

Results in the 2004 internal elections

In 2004 the first internal elections for EP-FA-NM was held. Previously elections had only been held within FA.
List Party Votes %
609
Espacio 609
Movimiento de Participación Popular
Izquierda Abierta
Movimiento Claveles Rojos
Columna Blanca
148,426 33.18
90
Espacio 90
Partido Socialista
Socialist Party of Uruguay
The Socialist Party of Uruguay is an Uruguayan political party founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokesman was Dr Emilio Frugoni, the most prominent advocate of socialist ideas in Uruguay....

Movimiento Socialista Emilio Frugoni
Partido por la Seguridad Social
Acción Renovadora
79,090 17.68
2121
Espacio 2121
Asamblea Uruguay
Movimiento Popular Frenteamplista
40,741 9.11
738
Alianza Progresista
Progressive Alliance (Uruguay)
The Progressive Alliance is a social-democratic political party of Uruguay founded in 1999 by the former Vice President Rodolfo Nin Novoa, since then is part of the Frente Amplio....

Confluencia Frenteamplista
Broad Front Confluence
The Broad Front Confluence is a socialist political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front Progressive Encounter-New Majority....

Corriente 78
Current 78
The Current 78 is a progressive political party in Uruguay. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front Progressive Encounter-New Majority....

Partido Demócrata Cristiano
Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay
The Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay is a political party of the Christian Left.-Affiliation:...

Corriente Encuentrista Independiente
37,628 8.41
77
Vertiente Artiguista
Vertiente Artiguista
The Vertiente Artiguista is a social-democratic political party in Uruguay led by Joel Parnell....

Artiguismo y Unidad
Izquierda Democrática Independiente
34,536 7.72
99000
Nuevo Espacio
30,762 6.88
1001
Democracía Avanzada
Partido Comunista del Uruguay
Frente Izquierda de Liberación
26,569 5.94
326
Movimiento 26 de Marzo
12,175 2.72
1303
Corriente Popular
8,776 1.96
1813
Liga Federal Frenteamplista
7,425 1.66
5271
Corriente de Izquierda
Corriente de Izquierda
The Leftist Current is a leftist political party within the Broad Front political party which has held power in Uruguay since 2005. In internal elections within Frente Ampilo the party got 1.17% of the vote. Despite electoral failings, the Corriente de Izquierda has a very active base of party...

Tendencia Marxista
Alternativa Popular 1815 - Espacio Solidario
Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores-CI
Unión Popular
5,233 1.17
567
Unión Frenteamplista
Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo
Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo
The Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo or People's Victory Party is a heterodox Marxist political party in Uruguay.When initially established, the party espoused both Guevarism and anarchism. Eventually it came to define itself as Marxist. The party is founded on a principle of opposition to a...

2,664 0.64
9393
Corriente de Unidad Frenteamplista
2,354 0.53
1968
Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores-IV Internacional
387 0.09
871
Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista-Posadista)
371 0.08
5205
Movimiento 20 de Mayo
198 0.04
11815 86 0.02
2571
Agrupación 5 de Febrero de 1971
23 0.01
Total:
447,313

Latest elections

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK