In Uruguay, the Mujica era begins

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - He took up arms as a young man in search of social change.

He joined the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaro (national movement of liberation Tupamaro), a leftist guerrilla group that's been active in Uruguay for the past 50 years.

He can be called unassuming, unkempt, genuine and militant.

But here's something else José "Pepe" Mujica must be called: president.

On March 1- a quarter-century after the start of the first democratic government post-dictatorship - Mujica became president, just the second liberal leader in the country's history as he takes over for Tabaré Vázquez.

But the job of Mujica, 74, won't be easy, as he must strengthen the relationship with his nation's eastern neighbor, Argentina, as the countries are mired in a dispute involving paper mills on the banks of the Uruguay River.

Luis Almagro, Uruguay's incoming foreign minister, wants to improve the country's relationships with nations outside Mercosur, especially Iran and Venezuela.

"Uruguay is not at its best because Mercosur is not at its best," said Julio María Sanguinetti, a former Uruguayan president.

Pablo Mieres, the leader of the Partido Independiente (social democrat party) - an opposition to Mujica's Frente Amplio - criticized the move.

"The attitude of the Uruguayan government should be one of distance," he said. "There is an inability by the Uruguayan left to recognize authoritarianism when it comes from the left."

Daniel Chasquetti, a political scientist, said Mujica's top priorities should be government reform, the war on crime and most of all, the country's stagnant educational system.

Chasquetti said that while Vázquez increased the country's education budget, there has been no advancement in the field in five years.

"Vázquez approved a new education law that gives power to the unions and corporate incentives," he said.

Mujica believes it will be good for the country's growth to include leaders of oppositional parties to accompany him to meetings involving heads of state. He also envisions a complete overhaul of public offices, which have been operating with very little oversight.

Meantime, Eduardo Bonomi, the minster of the interior, said he'll focus on the overcrowding of prisons, the high crime rate and the formation of a republican guard.

Mujica's administration should be successful in its agenda since his party controls the parliament.

"The Frente Amplio (Mujica's party) has a parliamentary majority," said Luis Alberto Lacalle of the Partido Nacional, who lost to Mujica in a presidential run-off. "It allows Mujica to make some decisions without needing to gain votes from outside the party."

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