Gonzalo Fernández (Uruguayan politician)

Gonzalo Fernández is a Uruguayan

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

politician and former Foreign Minister

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

of Uruguay

Uruguay

, having been appointed in March 2008. Subsequently he was Defense Minister until March 1, 2010.

Background

Fernández was previously a senior aide to the President of Uruguay

President of Uruguay

The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the head of state of Uruguay. His or her rights are determined in the Constitution of Uruguay. Conforms with the Secretariat of the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the Director of the Office of Planning and Budget, the executive branch...

Tabaré Vázquez

Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas is a former President of Uruguay. A physician by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition . Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010...

from 2005 to 2008.

His professional training was as a lawyer. Prior to working at the Secretariat of the Presidency, Fernández had worked as a lawyer for Dr. Vázquez when the latter was a practising medical doctor.

A Socialist, he was noted for his pragmatism and mastery of complex negotiations, and was seen as less ideological than his fellow-Socialist predecessor as Foreign Minister

Foreign minister

, Reinaldo Gargano

Reinaldo Gargano

Reinaldo Apolo Gargano Ostuni is a Uruguayan political figure.-Exile:Gargano went into exile in Spain in 1974 following a coup d'état.He returned to Uruguay several years later.-Socialist Party Leader; Senator:...

Issues

A number of salient foreign affairs issues which Fernández inherited as Foreign Minister could be identified. These included:

Trade liberalization

Proposed moves for the liberalization of trade with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

which he was thought to favour personally, but to which many of his left-wing party colleagues were viscerally opposed. A wider issue related to Uruguay

Uruguay

's membership of, and hosting of the Secretariat of, Mercosur

Mercosur

Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...

, the regional trade agreement. The challenge of Fernández was thus to pursue stable relations with Uruguay

Uruguay

's regional trading partners with the goal of a climate favouring economic growth, while seeking not to disabuse openly the aspirations of the statist and protectionist Uruguayan

Uruguay

Left, which supported the government in which he served.

Relations with Cuba and Venezuela

These were championed by his predecessor Reinaldo Gargano

Reinaldo Gargano

. Fernández's appointment came as Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

, long regarded as a mythical, cult figure by the Uruguayan

Uruguay

Left, particularly after Castro's associate Che Guevara

Che Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

visited the Uruguayan

Uruguay

city of Punta del Este

Punta del Este

Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about east of Montevideo...

, stepped down as President of Cuba

President of Cuba

--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...

. His appointment also coincided with the deterioration of relations between Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

amidst threats of war, with Venezuela

Venezuela

's sharp differences with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

coming especially into focus. While Fernández's presumed less ideological approach to links with Venezuela

Venezuela

and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

may not have been greatly significant at a personal level, it was thought that Fernández is likely to press hard for Uruguay

Uruguay

to avoid becoming embroiled in anti-American political rhetoric. While in September 2008 Venezuela

Venezuela

and Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

expelled their respective US Ambassadors, it was hard to envisage Uruguayan

Uruguay

foreign policy under Fernández, though rhetorically very pro-Venezuela

Venezuela

, taking such an anti-American line.

External links

Photo: Gonzalo Fernández (centre) at a meeting in Washington, DC.
Uruguayan ministerial appointments, March 2008

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