Uruguayan Vice-President celebrated referendum’s result: “Openness to the world is fundamental”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On March 28, Uruguay’s Vice President, Beatriz Argimón, highlighted that the “NO” victory in the referendum on the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) showed citizens’ support for the government of Luis Lacalle Pou.

“We can say that the referendum’s result confirmed the government’s path”, said the official during an interview on the Argentine radio station Radio Mitre.

With 99% of the votes counted, the “No” vote obtained this Sunday more than 50.5% of the votes, which means that the 135 disputed articles of the LUC, the star project of the executive, remain in force.

The consultation, however, showed the division into two political halves of the population of the South American country. Argimón recalled that among the most debated points during the campaign were the articles related to public security, which doubled the penalties for adolescents who commit crimes, increased the sentences for drug trafficking and offenses against public authorities.

In this respect, Argimón explained that, for the most serious crimes, the law foresees in the case of minors “a more severe regime” and makes adults keep their records, something that until now was not foreseen. At the same time, it was intended to show “support to the police in their work”.

The vice-president also referred to the statements made by President Lacalle Pou, who, when celebrating the result, promised that Uruguay would continue to open up to the world and described Mercosur as “too protectionist”.

“We as a country need that relaxation,” Argimón confirmed. “Our president went down the right path, raising the issue before the partners in the first place. Openness to the world is fundamental.”

Finally, the Uruguayan vice-president referred to the situation in Ukraine: she said that the government did not raise the categorization of Putin as a war criminal. However, she stressed that she spoke out against the Russian military operation.