Broad Front (Uruguay)

The Broad Front (Spanish: Frente Amplio, FA) is a Uruguayan centre-left to left-wing coalition of political parties.

Broad Front Frente Amplio
President	Javier Miranda
Founded	5 February 1971
Headquarters	Colonia 1367, Montevideo, Uruguay
Newspaper	Voces del Frente
Ideology	Democratic socialism Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
International affiliation	COPPPAL Foro de São Paulo Socialist International Progressive Alliance Alliance of Democrats (Defunct)
Chamber of Senators	16 / 30
Chamber of Deputies	50 / 99
Intendencias	6 / 19
Mayors	37 / 112
Party flag
Website
http://www.frenteamplio.org.uy/

Frente Amplio has close ties with PIT-CNT trade union and the cooperative housing movement. It has been the governing party of Uruguay since 2005. Presidents Tabaré Vázquez and José Mujica are members of the party.

History

Frente Amplio was a coalition of more than a dozen leftist parties and movements.It was founded in 1971. Its first president was General Liber Seregni. he was also the front's first candidate for the Presidency of Uruguay. The front was declared illegal during the 1973 military coup d'état. However, it emerged again in 1984 when democracy was restored in Uruguay.

In 1994 Progressive Encounter (Encuentro Progresista) was formed by several minor independent factions. Then the EP and FA started contesting elections jointly. They used the name Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio. Later Nuevo Espacio became linked to the front. After that, it started contesting elections as Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio - Nueva Mayoria.

In 2005 Progressive Encounter and New Majority (essentially Nuevo Espacio) merged into the front, and the coalition took the name of Frente Amplio. Previously, Progressive Encounter and New Majority had been separate organizations.

The alliance is formed by:

• Asamblea Uruguay (Uruguay Assembly) led by Danilo Astori
• Partido Socialista del Uruguay (Socialist Party of Uruguay) led by Daniel Martínez
• Partido Comunista del Uruguay (Communist Party of Uruguay) led by Eduardo Lorier
• Corriente 78 (Current 78)
• Nuevo Espacio (New Space) led by Rafael Michelini
• Vertiente Artiguista (Artiguist Stream) led by Enrique Rubio
• Movimiento de Participación Popular (Movement of Popular Participation) led by Lucía Topolansky
• Partido Demócrata Cristiano del Uruguay (Christian Democratic Party of Uruguay)
• Partido de los Comunes (Party of the Communes)
• Confluencia Frenteamplio (Broad Front Confluence)
• Alianza Progresista (Progressive Alliance) led by Rodolfo Nin Novoa
• Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo (People's Victory Party)

Pre-2004 election: economic crisis

Starting with the election of Luis Alberto Lacalle of the National Party in 1989, an economic reform began.

The reform was designed to modernize the country. However this led to a devaluing of the peso and laws protecting banking secrecy. This secrecy lead to Uruguayan banks becoming a place to launder money from drug and other illegal businesses.

By the turn of the century, half the nation had to survive in the informal economy. In 2002, the economic crisis of Brazil and Argentina spread to Uruguay. This crisis was caused by the lack of productive power. In August of that year, the nation received 1.5 billion US dollars from the IMF to try and help with the crisis. The ruling Colorado Party’s response to the crisis was to flood police into the poorer neighborhoods. This was the state of the nation when the Broad Front began campaigning for the 2004 election.

2004 election: Vazquez and economic restoration

The party's victorious 2004 campaign was the first time in the history of Uruguay which a left-leaning party gained majority. There are two major reasons the party took power in 2004. The first reason was that there was a obvious movement towards more moderate policies, and the other reason was that the front's support of an increased welfare state created a bond with working-class people.