Pedro Bordaberry

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Uruguay
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Pedro Bordaberry is a Uruguayan political figure.

1 Political and ministerial career
2 Personal political heritage and challenges
3 See also
4 Reference
5 External links

[edit] Political and ministerial career

Bordaberry served as the Tourism minister in the government of President Jorge Batlle until 2005. At the same time he was appointed Industry and Energy minister (2002-2003) and Sports and Youth minister (2003-2004) ^[1].

He also participated in the mayoral elections for Montevideo, but lost to Ricardo Ehrlich, of the Frente Amplio. Bordaberry got 26.9% of the vote; Ehrlich won with 60.9%. In this election, Bordaberry multiplied by three the votes that his party, the Colorado, had received in the October 2004 general election. Nevertheless, he was still 1% below Oscar Magurno's performance of May 2000 (the Colorado Party candidate for the mayoralty of Montevideo at the time).

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.

Pedro Bordaberry is now building a new group in the Colorado Party, called Vamos Uruguay [1]. This group seeks for ethics, honesty and real participation of the Uruguayan people in public life of the country. Bordaberry in effect split with the Lista 15, shortly after the municipal elections of May 2005.

[edit] Personal political heritage and challenges

He is a son of Juan Maria Bordaberry, elected President in free elections in 1972 and former Dictator of Uruguay from 1973 to 1976, after closing Parliament. Since the latter's arrest in 2006, Pedro Bordaberry has been vocal in support for his father. Some observers would argue that it is natural for this state of affairs to have come about, and that it is unreasonable to expect Pedro Bordaberry not to defend his father. Others would argue that from a publicity perspective it is in the political interests of President Tabaré Vázquez, of the Broad Front, for Pedro Bordaberry, seen as one of the principal leaders of the opposition, to be identified in his public pronouncements with a controversial period in which he himself played no direct role.