Semana Bush

Last week in Montevideo was commonly referred to as “semana Bush” or “Bush week” due to the visit of President George W. Bush to Uruguay as part of his week-long tour of Latin America and the brouhaha building up to his arrival. Colossal U.S. army planes descended on the capital days in advance to beef up security and leftist party supporters rushed around town with posters and fliers announcing fuera Bush protest marches.

The excitement culminated around 9:00 Friday night, as 40,000 protesters filled 18 de Julio, the main street cutting through Montevideo with painted faces, posters, and flags denouncing the visit of the "imperialist" leader. Around the same time, I was making my way down another 18 de Julio, the main street in Tacuarembó, a town about 5 hours from Montevideo in the interior of the country. I was on my way to the weekly meeting of Rotary Club Tacuarembó, which, with 33 members, is the 3^rd largest Rotary Club in Uruguay.

As made my way through the main plaza to Club Tacuarembó, where the meeting was to be held, a nascent fuera Bush protest was forming. I couldn’t help thinking that Uruguay might just need an army of ambassadors of goodwill from the United States. Still contemplating the irony of the situation, I entered Club Tacuarembó bravely, like you do when jumping into water you know is going to be colder than your liking. Rotary President Enrique Castillo greeted me amicably and directed me to a seat at the front. About thirty minutes later, I was addressing a group of around 22 Rotarians (3 women). I spoke briefly about myself, my plans, and my experiences in Uruguay, carefully ignoring the elephant in the room the President Bush’s plane was landing just as I was speaking.

As I wrapped up, I nervously waited for the pause, those few moments after a speech during which you figure out whether what you said sunk in or fell on deaf ears. To my relief, the questions started. They were interested in what I had to say. What were the weather and geography like in North Carolina? What’s the situation like for immigrants in the country? What are North Carolina’s main industries? Do you have much cattle? And of course the most common question I’ve gotten since I’ve been in Uruguay: what do you think of asado, Uruguayan barbecue? I found out later that only around 30 people made it to the fuera Bush protest in Tacuarembo. Maybe the situation's not so hopeless after all.

For more Tacuarembo photos, click here.

Want to take a photo tour of downtown Montevideo? Click here.

Want to take a photo tour of the museum dedicated to Uruguayan artist Garcia Torres? Click here.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez addresses the country

On March 1, 2005, Uruguayan politics shifted dramatically when the political party Frente Amplio, a coalition of left wing parties, came to power for the first time since the return of democracy to Uruguay in 1985, when their candidate, Tabare Vazquez won the presidency. Last Friday, March 2, 2007--two years into his term--President Tabare Vazquez addressed his constituents for three hours in la Plaza de la Independencia, the main plaza downtown Montevideo. His goal was to demonstrate to Uruguayans how much his administration has accomplished in these two years, to set forth the agenda in the remaining three years of his term, and to defend decisions made by his administration that many within his own party have considered controversial, namely, the visit of U.S. President George Bush on Friday. Many are pleased by the drop in poverty levels over the past two years, which the administration tauts, while others are critical of Vazquez's positioning of Uruguay's tiny economy in the global market, most especially within Mercorsur, a trade partnership of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, which is known for its ineffectiveness. For more photos of the event, click here.