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