Everything about Frente Amplio totally explained
The
Broad Front or
FA (in
Spanish:
Frente Amplio) is a
Uruguayan
centre-left political party. It is led by
Tabaré Vázquez, the current
President of Uruguay. Frente Amplio has close ties with
PIT-CNT trade union and the cooperative housing movement.
History
Frente Amplio was founded as a coalition of more than a dozen fractured leftist parties and movements in
1971. The first president of the front and its first candidate for the presidency of the country was General
Líber Seregni. The front was declared illegal during
1973 military
coup d'état of and emerged again in
1984 when democracy was restored in Uruguay.
In
1994 Progressive Encounter (
Encuentro Progresista) was formed by split-offs from the
National Party and
Colorado Party, as well by groups who had left FA. EP and FA started contesting elections jointly under the name
Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio. Later another force,
Nuevo Espacio, became linked to the front. Thus it started contesting elections as
Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio - Nueva Mayoria.
In
2005 member organizations of Progressive Encounter and New Majority (essentially Nuevo Espacio) merged into the front, and the coalition was renamed
Frente Amplio. Previously, EP and later NM had been allied with FA but organizationally separate structures.
At the
2004 general election, the party won 51.7% of the popular vote and 52 out of 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 17 out of 31 in the Senate, making its presidential candidate,
Tabaré Vázquez, win the same day.
The alliance is - as far as available - formed by:
2004 electoral strength
Results in the 2004 internal elections
In 2004 the first internal elections for EP-FA-NM was held. Previously elections had only been held within FA.
