On Saturday, Uruguayan former union leader Fernando Pereira assumed the presidency of the left-wing Board Front (FA) party in the El Galpon Theater in Montevideo. In his inauguration speech, he urged the FA militants to improve their party’s internal communication structures and build policies to guarantee gender equality.
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"We have to discuss our proposals in front of all our colleagues, without fear of having differences,” said Pereira, who got 67.2 percent of the votes of the militancy, the highest number of support in the history of internal elections of his party.
He also warned that the persistent gender-based violence in Uruguayan society is inadmissible. To fight this issue from the FA grassroots, Pereira announced the creation of a Gender and Feminism Commission to be chaired by Patricia Gonzalez, the former director of the Montevideo City's Gender Secretary.
While the Broad Front Culture Commission will be led by Gabriela Iribarren, a former candidate for mayor of Montevideo, the Human Rights Commision will be in charge of Adriana Barros.
"In the new stage that is beginning, we must remain more united than ever," he stated, thus implicitly referring to the March referendum through which the Uruguayans will decide on the Urgent Consideration Law (LUC).
Approved in July 2020 under the pretext of fighting COVID-19, this law introduces substantive changes in the capacities of the Uruguayan state in matters related to health, safety, education, and public companies.
The LUC emerged from the consensus reached by the National, Colorado, Cabildo Abierto, Independent, and People parties, all of which support right-wing President Luis Lacalle. The Uruguayan left, however, maintains that the new law restricts the right to strike, makes access to housing precarious, and commodifies public education.