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This Tuesday was not another day in the Uruguayan democracy: José Mujica and Julio María Sanguinetti, two leaders, two symbols of the recent history of the country, stepped aside and the Senate dismissed them in a Legislative Palace filled with applause and tears and democratic feeling.
The rainy Montevidean morning did not prevent the Upper House of Parliament from being full and that, for a while, those present forgot their ideological differences to give the due tribute to two characters who, in one way or another, have been key in Uruguayan democracy .
The emotional day began early, with both former presidents waiting in their offices, for the last time, the culminating moment.
“Because the virus threw me out, because I am 85 years old and have an immune disease. I love politics, but I love not dying even more,” Mujica reasoned to the journalists who questioned him about his withdrawal at the entrance to the Upper House .
Although he leaves his seat, Mujica – who was president between 2010 and 2015 – affirmed that he will continue to be immersed in politics as long as he lives because “homo sapiens is a political animal, because he is a gregarious animal, he lives in society, he cannot live like cougars lonely”.
Sanguinetti and Mujica won their seats in the elections held in October 2019, but their advanced age (Sanguinetti is 84 and Mujica 85) has made them justify their absence from the rest of the legislative period, which ends in 2025.
“I have my good number of defects, I am passionate, but in my garden I have not cultivated hatred for decades, because I learned a hard lesson that life imposed on me, that hatred ends up stupid, it makes us lose objectivity,” Mujica said during his address in the extraordinary session.
For his part, Sanguinetti, who was president for two periods (1985-1990 and 1995-2000), reflected that “political parties are the ones that channel, guide, structure and articulate and that is fundamental, especially in times of advertising bubbles. and social networks “.
Both were on opposite paths throughout their career, both ideologically and in their way of life, but this Tuesday that did not matter and the praise from one to the other did not wait.
“He is an old fighter, important, who represents a part of public opinion in this country,” emphasized Mujica about Sanguinetti, while the latter stressed that the joint farewell speaks of it being “an hour of conciliation, an hour of democratic reaffirmation “.
The speeches of the senators towards those who withdrew came from all parties.
The end of the day had applause, greetings and hugs. Mujica, who seems to be hardened by a life full of beatings, torture and weapons, let the tears of goodbye run down his cheek. Sanguinetti, meanwhile, maintained his academic integrity but greeted each one of those present and gave himself a big hug with his contemporary rival.
Mujica left immediately, in the rain and with a purple umbrella, got into a car – which this time was not his traditional light blue beetle – and said goodbye to Parliament while Sanguinetti took a little longer to leave.
With this closure Uruguay demonstrated, once again, a republican sentiment and institutional stability that is not usually seen in a region full of differences, where the cracks are transformed into abysses in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile or Venezuela.
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