It must be said in all letters: Carlos Negro's security management is a disaster. Point. The numbers don't lie, neither do the shootings, and ordinary people aren't surprised when they hear about another homicide. Criticizing that isn't an act of courage; it's the bare minimum required. Anyone with two front fingers and a minimal sense of reality can see that the State, in matters of public order, is failing dramatically.
But beware: Bordaberry and the Republican Coalition are not criticizing because they care about the substance of the problem. They criticize because it comes as a gift. It is the criticism of low political costs, the one that does not risk a single penny of the donations that arrive on time each campaign, that does not jeopardize ties with that friendly businessmen who prefer that the State continue to distribute privileges rather than open the doors
to real competition.Because if they really wanted to disassemble the root causes of why Uruguay doesn't finish taking off, they would have to talk about something else. They should point out how certain groups have almost absolute control over the importation of essential goods—Lestido is the most visible example—thanks to regulations and barriers that the State itself maintains in place. It's not a “market”; it's a captured market. It's political privilege disguised as a company.
They would have to question the very existence of public companies, those inefficient mastodons that live out of the taxpayer's pocket, that compete with an unfair advantage and that, instead of generating wealth, generate deficits and clientelism. There is no true economic freedom when the State is judge and party, owner and regulator at the same time.
