Uruguay's left attacks Tabaré Vázquez for near-war with Argentina.

In response to recent revelations that the government of former Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez requested American support (from then-President George W. Bush) for the installation of the Botnia pulp mill in his country, on the border with Argentina, the opposition Popular Assembly released the following letter, calling for the revitalization of the "coherent left" and considering the serious implications of the events which, according to Vázquez himself, almost culminated in an armed conflict.

Montevideo, October 13, 2011.

Recent statements by Dr. Tabaré Vázquez have revealed his call for support for Yankee imperialism and the United States government then presided over by George Bush.

This request for support was motivated by the conflict created with Argentina's sister Republic over the installation of the Botnia pulp mill.

These statements confirm what the People's Assembly has been denouncing for a long time: that the Broad Front government, pseudo-progressive, which carried forward the IPT (Investment Protection Treaty), the TIFA, which tried to implement the FTA and sent troops to Haiti, is a pro-imperialist government that has deepened dependence on American imperialism.

In light of these statements by Dr. Vázquez, the People's Assembly declares:

1) That Dr. Tabaré Vázquez's confessions confirm the close alliance his government established with US imperialism. That these confessions are the starkest confirmation that the Broad Front government has abandoned and buried all the definitions that have historically identified the left.

2) The installation of the Botnia factory without consultation, which pollutes on a large scale, and its intransigent defense, were in themselves acts of extreme aggression against Argentina, and it was logical that they could generate situations with unpredictable consequences. Resorting to imperialism and the most genocidal government of our time to defend not Uruguay, but Botnia, clearly shows the degree of surrender and the cost to which opportunists can go.

3) We reject any attempt to minimize the seriousness of these events, such as claiming that what we are saying is serious. What is serious, shameful, and despicable is what they did: begging for the support of the greatest genocidal figure in history, G. Bush, to attack a sister nation in Latin America.

This policy of submission to imperialism is the most brutal negation of Artiguism and the richest traditions of the left in our country.

We all know, moreover, that this support never was and is not free.

4) We firmly repudiate the mocking and disrespectful tone with which former President Vázquez referred to the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Commander Hugo Chávez, and the Venezuelan people. It seems unbelievable: so servile to the murderous empire and so ironic towards the solidarity and anti-imperialist fighters.

5) That the responsibility for this serious event does not lie solely with Dr. Vázquez. It lies with all those who have supported and continue to support such policies.

From now on, no one can distance themselves from these statements and, at the same time, continue to hold a hierarchical position in the Broad Front or a position of trust in its administration. One cannot simultaneously swell the ranks of the servants of corporations and the empire and pretend to be "critical opposition."

6) We call upon all anti-imperialists to firmly reject these policies of submission and surrender. To unite wills and consciences in the reconstruction of true anti-imperialist and left-wing forces in our country. To proudly and with dignity raise the banners we inherited from our martyrs and which our People's Assembly and other coherent left-wing groups now defend with all their might.

People's Assembly