Pedro Bordaberry

Juan Pedro Bordaberry Herrán (born 28 April 1960) is a Uruguayan political figure from the Colorado Party. He was Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining from 2002 to 2003, Minister of Tourism and Sports from 2003 to 2005, and senator from 2010 to 2020.

Pedro Bordaberry
Personal details
Born (1960-04-28) 28 April 1960
Montevideo, Uruguay
Political partyColorado Party
Spouse(s)María José Oribe
ChildrenPedro
Agustín
Matías
WebsiteOfficial website

Bordaberry is the son of Juan Maria Bordaberry, President of Uruguay from 1972 to 1976.

Family and early life

Bordaberry was born in Montevideo in 1960, the son of Juan Maria Bordaberry, who would become President of Uruguay from 1972 to 1976. His father led a self-coup in 1973 and closed down the legislature, starting a civic-military dictatorship that lasted until 1985. Bordaberry is a grandson of former Senator and Ruralist leader Domingo Bordaberry, and a great-grandson of Santiago Bordaberry (Senior), a French national from the Basque Country. His brother is the Ruralist leader Santiago Bordaberry, based in Durazno Department, central Uruguay.

Bordaberry was educated at The British Schools of Montevideo, gaining fluency in English. Also, he finished highschool at Instituto Preuniversitario Salesiano Juan XXIII. He later studied law.

Political career

Early ministerial career

Bordaberry served in the government of President Jorge Batlle as Minister of Industry and Energy (2002–2003) and Minister of Tourism and Sports (2003–2005).

In 2005 he participated in the mayoral elections for Montevideo, but lost to Ricardo Ehrlich of the Broad Front, winning 26.9% of the vote to Ehrlich's 60.9%.

Formation of Vamos Uruguay

Shortly after the 2005 municipal elections in Montevideo, Bordaberry split from the Lista 15 faction, and in 2007, following a meeting of supporters in Trinidad, he formed a new group in the Colorado Party called Vamos Uruguay (translated variously as "Let's go Uruguay" or "Come on, Uruguay"). The group has built up a nationwide organization, with local chapters established in many departments of the country.

2009 Uruguayan Presidential elections

In 2009, Bordaberry was selected as the Colorado Party's candidate for the Presidential election.[1]

On 21 March 2009, Bordaberry was formally accepted as Presidential candidate for Vamos Uruguay at a ceremony in a stadium in Montevideo attended by an estimated 7,000 supporters.[2] In June 2009, Bordaberry paused his work for the legal practice at which he had been active to focus on the Presidential campaign.[3]

In June 2009, Bordaberry was publicly criticised by Colorado Party colleague Luis Antonio Hierro López, a previous ministerial colleague also running for President, due to his surname.[4] In a muted response, Bordaberry noted that Hierro had previously campaigned for Bordaberry as colleagues in government, and had previously been silent about Bordaberry's family background.[4]

In the Presidential vote on 26 October, Bordaberry won 17%, finishing behind the National Party and Broad Front candidates, but increasing the Colorado Party's share of the vote. He endorsed Luis Alberto Lacalle for the second round run-off vote that took place at the end of November 2009.[5]

Views on economy and trade

Following the inauguration of the Obama Administration in the U.S., Bordaberry said that Uruguayan business leaders seeking to export their goods to the U.S. would encounter a greater degree of protectionism from U.S. officials.[6][7] In August 2009, in the context of continuing, difficult relations with Argentina over trade issues, Bordaberry expressed strong reservations about the Mercosur trade pact, arguing that the Chilean model of pursuing bilateral trade pacts would be preferable for Uruguay.[8]

Senate career

Bordaberry was elected to the Uruguayan Senate in 2009. In early 2010 Bordaberry called for the establishment of a new university in the interior city of Durazno, with a view to assisting disadvantaged potential students.[9]

Bordaberry stood again for President in the 2014 elections,[10] hiring campaign advisers who had worked for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.[11]

In 2017, Bordaberry said that he would not run again for President or Senator in 2019.[12] After 2019 internal elections, when Ernesto Talvi had been confirmed as the Colorado Party presidential candidate, Bordaberry again explored the possibility of running again for Senator, but withdrew after much opposition from party authorities.[13]

Political image

Pedro Bordaberry's decision to seek a political base in Montevideo contrasts with his father, dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry, who had a long association with rural affairs. Juan Maria Bordaberry was arrested in 2006 in connection with the 1976 assassination of two legislators, Senator Zelmar Michelini and House leader Héctor Gutiérrez, and Pedro Bordaberry has since then been vocal in his support. Despite his own family history of dictatorship, Bordaberry has at several occasions accused former President José Mujica of being, or striving to become a dictator.[14][15]

Bordaberry sometimes participates in outdoor public meetings on horseback, or in traditional "gaucho" horseriding attire.[16][17]

Literary criticism

Bordaberry has contributed to literary criticism of the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. He has discussed Borges's theme of the complexity of memory.[18]

Sports

Bordaberry is a major figure in rugby union in Uruguay, and has been president of the Uruguayan Rugby Union.[19]

On 21 August 2018, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee for the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF). Bordaberry was put in charge, alongside politician Armando Castaingdebat, and former professional association football player Andrés Scotti.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Portal de noticias". Teledoce.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  2. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  3. Archived June 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Para Bordaberry, "Luis Antonio (Hierro) está perdiendo la línea" - LR21.com.uy". Larepublica.com.uy. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  5. "Mujica Leads Lacalle in Uruguayan Run-Off | Angus Reid Global". Angus-reid.com. 2009-11-01. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  9. "Vamos Uruguay propone crear otra universidad pública". YouTube. 2010-04-06. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  10. "Victory of Bordaberry in the Uruguayan primaries" (in Spanish). EL PAIS. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014.
  11. "Bordaberry with advisors of Clinton and Obama". EL PAIS. 2013-08-28. Archived from the original on 2013-08-28.
  12. "Bordaberry se bajó". EL PAIS (in Spanish). 20 April 2017.
  13. "Finalmente, Bordaberry no se postulará para el período que viene porque Talvi y Sanguinetti no se mostraron afines". La Diaria (in Spanish). 30 June 2019.
  14. "Lunes de ira de Bordaberry en Twitter". Observa.com.uy. 2011-06-07. Archived from the original on 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  15. "Bordaberry: "No es bueno que Mujica tenga tanto poder" - Elecciones Nacionales 2009 - Diario EL PAIS - Montevideo Uruguay". Elpais.com.uy. 2010-04-14. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  16. "Photograph". Larepublica.com.uy. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  17. "Picasa Web Albums - Vamos Salto - Carpinteria". Picasaweb.google.com. 2008-09-20. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  18. "Esta boca es mía - Montevideo Portal". Montevideo.com.uy. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  19. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1), pp 77, 78
  20. "FIFA appoints normalisation committee for the AUF". FIFA.com. 29 August 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.