VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #0468/01 2251921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131921Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9279
INFO RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2638
RUCNMER/MESUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 000468 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/BSC MARY DASCHBACH 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON UY
SUBJECT:  URUGUAY: MUJICA 2.0 UNVEILED IN BRAZIL? 
 
REF:  Montevideo 535 and previous 
 
¶1. (U) This telegram is sensitive but unclassified, and not for 
Internet distribution. 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The FA may have regained some lost ground in the ongoing 
presidential race with the party's ticket, Jose Mujica and Danilo 
Astori, making a high-profile three-day visit to Brazil that 
culminated in a heavily photographed meeting with President Lula de 
Silva.  For Mujica, the trip offered a real opportunity not only to 
try on a new suit for the first time in memory, but also to strike a 
presidential air.  The degree to which both are perceived to have 
fitted could make a real difference to his chances during the coming 
months.  End Summary. 
 
A Busy Schedule 
--------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Early on August 4, FA presidential candidate Jose Mujica 
and running mate Danilo Astori headed a 13-person delegation on a 
three-day visit to Brazil.  Other notables in the team included the 
ex-labor minister, Eduardo Bonomi (a close Mujica associate and a 
current senator), the president of the soccer player's union Enrique 
Saravia and Claudia Hugo, Astori's secretary and companion. 
Technically, the team was primarily in Brazil to discuss Mercosur 
and the proposed integration of the Uruguayan and Brazilian 
electrical grids, but as the phalanx of television cameras and press 
made clear, the visit's function as a campaign device was very much 
in the foreground. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to the Lula meeting, Mujica met with Brazilian 
foreign minister Celso Amorim, Astori talked with Economic Secretary 
Henrique Pinheiro, and Bonomi attended talks with various 
legislators.  The press conference that followed Mujica and Astori's 
45-minute meeting with Lula ended up providing the finale, with 
Mujica presenting the Brazilian president a portrait of the "Father 
of Uruguay," General Artigas; a national soccer jersey signed by the 
Uruguayan soccer star Alcides Ghiggia, and a drum decorated with the 
maps of Brazil and Uruguay.  The shirt was a somewhat playful gift, 
given that it was signed by the very man whose goal had defeated the 
Brazilian team in the world cup final of 1950.  Lula appeared to 
take the teasing well, however, holding the shirt up against himself 
for size and obligingly banging Mujica's drum. 
 
High Profile Political Gold-Dust 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Politically, it is the symbolic aspects of Mujica's visit 
that are of the greatest relevance.  The FA's presidential candidate 
is working hard to temper his radical leftist reputation with 
gestures that indicate a tilt towards more moderate policies. 
During the visit, Mujica described Lula's government as a "very 
interesting model that teaches much about what can be done from a 
leftist perspective."  Brazil's reputation as successful moderate 
leftist economy allows Mujica to cast his proposed administration in 
the same light.  These efforts to win votes through allusions to 
Brazilian success are complimented by Mujica's increasingly explicit 
attempts to draw parallels between himself and the popular Lula 
(both men, famously, come from humble backgrounds) whom he describes 
as an old friend (reftel).  Lula himself appeared to respond warmly 
to the visit, but while some Uruguayan commentators felt this 
constituted an endorsement of Mujica's candidacy, Lula has made no 
such explicit comment on the subject. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The visit provided the stage for Mujica's debut as a 
presidential figure.  Muijica's casual home-spun image both fuels 
and limits his domestic support, with critics arguing that his 
plain-talking rustic approach would make him a poor representative 
of Uruguay in the more refined world in international politics 
(reftel).  Travelling to Brazil has offered Mujica the chance to 
partially recast himself in the role of an international statesman. 
Usually clad in an open neck shirt, generously proportioned trousers 
and somewhat saggy knitwear, Mujica's first-ever suit fitting formed 
such a visual contrast that it became front page news, even if he 
still refused to wear a necktie.  It is worth noting that no 
previous visit to a neighboring country by a Uruguayan presidential 
candidate has attracted anything like the same volume of press and 
television coverage at home. 
 
A New, Business Savvy, Mujica? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mujica generated further gains by the economic and 
commercial nature of the visit.  His often awkward relationship with 
the business community has been seen by some as a weak flank in his 
presidential bid, but after the meeting with Lula, Mujica announced 
 
that Brazil would support Uruguay's efforts at bilateral grid 
integration.  The long proposed project has been stalled by 
Argentina, which has blocked the release of Mercosur funds to 
support it. Both Mujica and Astori have expressed their more general 
belief that the much-criticized Mercosur trading block could work to 
Uruguay's advantage if properly managed.  Note:  The GOU has been 
discussing with Brazil the possibility of moving the project forward 
for some time, but progress has been elusive.  End Note. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The members of the FA ticket also used their time in Brazil 
to send some wider political signals.  In interviews given during 
their stay, both Mujica and Astori spoke in glowing terms about 
Brazil's role in the region, describing the country as the natural 
leader of Mercosur and emphasizing the need for Uruguay to deepen 
relations with its giant neighbor, described by Astori as Uruguay's 
principal client.  Understanding that such words could be 
interpreted as something of a snub to Argentina, Mujica artfully 
added that he is confident his government would be able to reach an 
understanding with the Argentine government regarding the ongoing 
dispute over the Botnia paper mill. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In response to the visit, the rival Blanco candidate Luis 
Alberto Lacalle remarked that Uruguay should guard its independence 
and not be seen to align itself with any one country.  Mujica 
retorted that he had visited as a friend and not as a "suck-up" and 
that, moreover, Lacalle "had knocked-back whisky with every gringo 
ambassador in town."  He also rhetorically asked what was so bad 
about visiting a friend to ask for some machinery and materials to 
build houses for the poor. (Mujica has recently promised to begin 
construction on homes for low-income families within 15 days of 
assuming the presidency.) 
 
Mujica 2.0: A Vote Winner? 
-------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Playing off the success of the Brazil visit, there are yet 
more travels in the near future for Mujica and Astori, who will 
follow up with trips to Chile and Argentina Sept 21-22, and where 
they are expected to meet with presidents Bachelet and Fernandez de 
Kirchner.  The visit helped the Mujica-Astori campaign somewhat, 
with local polls showing a 1-2 point bump as a result.  The trip is 
another example of the Mujica team's skill at addressing and 
defusing criticism by the opposition, in this case the concern that 
he is not "presidential" enough and does not have sufficient foreign 
policy experience.