Switzerland gives lessons that Uruguay should heed

The Swiss have just given a couple of lessons that Uruguayans should pay close attention to if we truly want to become the Switzerland of America again and not end up turning into the Sinaloa of the South.

Because let's not fool ourselves: today we're heading more in that direction than toward the orderly, serious, and free country we once dreamed of.
First, a reminder that's always uncomfortable: Switzerland wasn't born rich. Just over a century ago, people were leaving the country because there was no work, no land, and no opportunities.

The Swiss Colony in Uruguay is a living testimony. In the main square, there's a monument to the first settlers: men pushing a plow on their shoulders because they didn't even have oxen. Switzerland today is the result of responsible, sustained collective decisions aimed at the well-being of the Swiss people, not at the whim of enlightened politicians.

With that same logic, last week they rejected two proposals that many in Uruguay consider progressive: a tax on the super-rich and a minimum wage in the canton of Fribourg. These weren't impulsive decisions: they were votes. Here lies the biggest difference.

Direct democracy: voting, deciding, taking responsibility

The Swiss vote about eleven times a year. We vote three times every five years. The difference is stark: they decide; we delegate and then protest. That constant practice of direct democracy forces responsibility.

It doesn't allow a government to impose its whims, nor a union to define the country's fate. The people decide. That, my friend, is the true secret of Swiss success. The tax on the super-rich: the Swiss left collided with reality

The proposal was simple: a 50% tax on inheritances over 50 million francs. A dream come true for any redistributionist from UDELAR. The usual arguments were in favor: "equality," "redistribution," "climate," "social justice."
But the Swiss don't settle for slogans.

They looked at the obvious: capital flight, threatened family businesses, loss of competitiveness, and revenue that, instead of rising, would very likely fall. In addition, the direct blow to private property and economic freedom. Result: more than 70% rejection.

No canton supported the idea. Not one. Switzerland values stability more than rhetoric. The minimum wage in Fribourg: when good intentions destroy jobs.

The second case: the proposed minimum wage was 48 Uruguayan pesos per hour. Today, only five cantons have a minimum wage, and not by chance: they know that setting artificial prices for labor ends up excluding precisely the most vulnerable.

In Uruguay, we see it clearly: the call for jobs below the minimum wage had 150,000 applications. A multitude willing to work, but the law forbids them.

Result? More unemployment, more informality, and more frustration. The Swiss don't fall for that. They also rejected the proposal. Not because they're insensitive, but because they understand something basic: the economy doesn't work by decree or by good intentions.

Uruguay in front of the Swiss mirror

This is where it hurts. What do we do? The PCU and PIT-CNT —the two most retrograde forces that Uruguayan politics has produced in recent decades— keep marching behind tyrants like Maduro, Chávez, Castro, Evo, and Ortega. The worst of the worst on the continent. They want to drag us into that model of poverty, violence, and political control.

Now, looking at that scenario, one wonders: can we become the Switzerland of America again? Of course we can. Ideologically, the Colorado Party venerates —and makes use and abuse— of Batlle y Ordóñez, who wanted a quintessentially Swiss system with his famous collegiate system. The National Party talks about decentralization, and that's exactly what we need.

Meanwhile, La Libertad Avanza, the new group seeking to replicate Milei's and Bukele's policies in Uruguay, inaugurated its headquarters and named it La Suiza de América.

But above all, friends, what the Swiss have is an unrestricted respect for the particular sovereignty of peoples. Does that sound familiar?
That is the cornerstone of Artiguism. Respect for the authority of the people is the foundation of sovereignist thought, heir to the oldest Spanish tradition of medieval fueros.

We can become the Switzerland of America again. All it takes is for those of us who see ourselves in that model to unite against those heading toward Venezuela... passing through Sinaloa.