Tensions and contradictions: compliance is more necessary than competence
These selective virtuists do not propose anti-corruption laws or clean record requirements for public office, simply because moral and ethical principles rank below political power interests.
Yet, candidates who undergo competitive examinations are required to present certificates of good conduct.
Not even union leaders are subject to democratic electoral control, as no regulation governs such processes.
There is even less concern for probity in office, and recent cases show that while individuals may rise to the Senate under the Broad Front, their criminal responsibility depends solely on the severity of a prosecutor’s actions. This is evident in the SUNCA case, where funds stolen from workers were, according to defendants’ statements, diverted to finance the Communist Party’s political campaign.
Prejudice also undermines the selective virtue of ministers, and the Orsi administration acts only when it has no alternative. Ideology prevails over legality.
The Minister of the Interior, the only one in history to publicly demonstrate involvement in a traffic accident without holding a valid driver’s license and causing serious injuries to a motorcyclist, along with the Minister of Social Development, suddenly discovered the existence of a Vagrancy Law in force since 2013 regarding the removal of people living on the streets.
In May 2024, the situation escalated with Law 20.279 on compulsory hospitalization, responding to the severe deterioration of coexistence caused by drug-affected individuals occupying public spaces as a grim housing alternative.
One year into their administration, and under mounting pressure from residents living with children exposed to mental, moral, and physical risks, the public outcry became deafening.
The Vagrancy Law, Law 19.120, classifies the improper use of public spaces as an offense.
It prohibits occupying public areas such as squares, sidewalks, and parks by camping, sleeping overnight, or erecting precarious structures.
The established procedure requires authorities, police or municipal, to order individuals to leave.
They are offered relocation to a MIDES shelter.
If the individual persists after two warnings, they may be sentenced to community service for seven to thirty days.
The 2024 amendment, Law 20.279, introduced the most significant regulatory update, allowing involuntary hospitalization.
It grants the State authority to transfer homeless individuals to health centers without their consent, provided a physician certifies in writing that the person suffers from a psychiatric condition or substance abuse posing an imminent risk to themselves or others.
The Ministry of Social Development is legally obligated to request such intervention, while the State Health Services Administration provides medical care.
Only four days ago did Minister Negro initiate an operation to dismantle street encampments in coordination with MIDES, reinforcing these procedures in already deteriorated central areas of Montevideo.
The Deputy Chief of Police of Montevideo, Carlos Rodríguez, stated that the goal is to expand the operation and affirmed that the intention is “not to allow any citizen to sleep on the streets.”
Clearly, the situation of neighbors who endure this reality daily ranks as secondary, as senior officials likely do not suffer these conditions themselves.
The hierarchy finally realized that current regulations prohibit occupying public spaces and remaining in them.
Not because “no citizen should sleep on the street,” but because streets are public spaces, not bedrooms for those whom the State must restrain.
According to official statements, individuals are invited to leave encampments and are transferred to MIDES facilities, particularly in the Casavalle area. Those with pets are relocated along with them.
These actions reveal a double failure.
First, the failure to enforce from day one laws that provide authorities with adequate legal tools to clear streets and plazas of individuals deemed to have lost judgment or social utility.
Second, the failure to properly address homelessness through permanent or transitional solutions, rather than celebrating what some barbarians call the “freedom to live wherever one wants.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Industry remains silent as businesses close daily and workers lose their jobs.
This situation undermines the productive growth calculations presented by the Minister of Economy as justification for increased public spending.
The Minister of Environment, whose first governmental action was the abrupt termination of the Arazatí project that would have ensured permanent and sufficient potable water through private investment, offers no explanation for polluted beaches where adults and children swim among high levels of coliform bacteria.
The president and vice president of ASSE, devoted architects of the National Integrated Health System, continue draining public funds endlessly.
Olesker, the current vice president and creator of the morbid public-private healthcare Frankenstein, stands as living proof of a system that deceives with nonexistent degrees, as his predecessor Sendic did, excusing academic failure by revolutionary busyness.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs maneuvers to comply with the presidential decision not to recognize Corina Machado as the Nobel Peace Prize winner, avoiding offense to a dictatorial system.
He refuses to acknowledge Maduro as a criminal figure and celebrates agreements with another declining bloc as diplomatic achievements.
Oddone must constantly supervise Castillo at the Ministry of Labor, repeatedly overruling initiatives aligned with communist radicalism that seek to obstruct business freedom.
Another Marxist experiment attempts to prove that the script is correct and only the actors fail, yet this ode bears the responsibility of governing us.