URUGUAY: VAZQUEZ REPLACES INTERIOR MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000319



SIPDIS



FOR WHA/BSC MARY DASCHBACH



E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, UY

SUBJECT: URUGUAY: VAZQUEZ REPLACES INTERIOR MINISTER



Classified By: CDA Robin Matthewman for reason 1.4 (B)



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: After months of controversy, Former

Interior Minister Daisy Tourne tendered her resignation on

June 5, triggered by her strongly worded and unbecoming

public criticism of opposition leaders and Frente Amplio

presidential candidates. President Vazquez named Vice

Minister of Labor, Dr. Jorge Bruni, as her successor as

soon as he returns from a business trip to Geneva (with

Minister of Transportation filling the post in the interim).

Bruni will have the challenge of restoring the government's

image and public confidence in the Ministry of the Interior.

This will be of particular importance, as the Presidential

election campaign heats up and security remains a top issue

for Uruguayans. End summary.



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Vulgar Appearance Tarnishes Tourne's Image and Political

Future

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2. (SBU) Interior Minister Daisy Tourne resigned on June 5

after

a public outcry over her striking appearance at a televised

Socialist Youth political rally, in which she used vulgar

language about opposition leaders and others who had

criticized

her in recent months. President Vazquez swiftly asked for

her

resignation as soon as the story surfaced. She took the high

road

in her televised press conference announcing her resignation,

stating that she was retiring in order to avoid hurting the

party

and the government. She apologized for letting her passion

for

the cause get in the way.





3. (C) The incident is a blow for Tourne's political

aspirations

and for the Socialist Party as a whole, which issued a

statement

disputing reports that she had been forced to resign. Tourne

had been a political lightning rod for months, attacked for

the

rise in crime (which she denied by withholding the latest

statistics),overcrowded and dismal prisons, and tensions

with

the police force and their unions, as well as her supposed

flamboyant social life and questionable judgment in posting a

photograph of herself with wet hair (after a shower) on

Facebook.

There had been some speculation she would be eased out of the

Cabinet after the June 28 primaries, to be free to run for

office in the October elections. The Socialist rally episode

made her continued tenure untenable; opposition politicians

immediately had a field day in criticizing the Frente Amplio

and President Vazquez.





3. (C) Some attribute Tourne's behavior at the rally to

aspirations to develop a down-to-earth image similar to

presidential candidate Jose Mujica, as a way of attracting

his

constituency of youth and the lower classes. If so, the

gamble

backfired. The performance was viewed uniformly throughout

Uruguay as tasteless, immature, and unbefitting of one of the

most important members of the Cabinet.



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Biographical Information: Dr. Jorge Bruni, the New

Interior Minister

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4. (SBU) Former Vice Minister of Labor and Social Welfare,

Dr. Jorge Bruni, was named Interior Minister on June 5. A

lawyer by training, Bruni graduated from the Faculty of Law

at

the University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in

1977. He has been an advisor to Uruguay's powerful umbrella

labor union organization, PIT-CNT, representing PIT-CNT

before the Mercosur Committee on Labor Relations,

Employment and Social Security. In this capacity, he has

worked closely with the police during collective bargaining

sessions, as has reportedly gained their respect.



5. (U) Bruni has attended and spoken at a wide range of

courses, congresses and seminars in Argentina, Brazil,

Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican

Republic, Venezuela, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Italy, and

the United Nations Development Program on behalf of PIT-CNT

or the Banco de Prevision Social of Uruguay. Formerly

affiliated with presidential precandidate Danilo Astori's

faction, Bruni now considers himself politically

independent.



6. (SBU) Described as a low profile individual and a

perfectionist, Bruni enjoys playing the piano and writing.

Before the military dictatorship, he wrote for the former

CNT magazine, international publications and various

newspapers.

Matthewman