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PRESIDENT VÁZQUEZ ASSERTS THAT HIS COUNTRY WISHES TO SHARE “A REVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY” WITH THE REST OF THE CONTINENT

The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, declared today before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) that his country wishes to share with his country’s brothers in the hemisphere “a revolution of intelligence and equality of opportunity,” through the expansion of the Ceibal Plan, implemented by his Government to provide a computer to every child and teacher in the public school system.

“Allow me to tell you that in a corner in the south of America, so bountiful with armed uprisings and conflicts, a peaceful revolution is taking place,” the head of state began, addressing the ambassadors of the 33 Member States of the OAS.

“In our modest opinion, we consider that the Ceibal Plan is a revolution, a process of deep and irreversible changes, that opens doors, if not to the best of possible worlds, at least to a better world, in as much as it offers all of our children more possibilities of equality before the law, but above all, more possibilities of equality before life,” he said.

Vázquez indicated that the said program made it possible for computers and Internet access, “which only three years ago were a privilege to a minority of Uruguayan students, to be the right of all students in the country, in a country where today 20 percent of the population lives in poverty.”

Nevertheless, President Vázquez added, the Ceibal Plan does not limit itself to the free distribution of computers, but opens new possibilities of communication and interaction in the educational world, connecting it simultaneously with other locations and even with other countries.

Upon welcoming him, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said the results of the Ceibal Plan, as well as the efforts of the Uruguayan Government to implement it, were valuable. He characterized similarly Uruguay’s civic tradition and the leadership of its President. “Uruguay is a country that breathes democracy. A country in which there is mobilization, but without shrillness; where there is mutual respect and democratic values are placed above any personal interest,” Insulza said.

In his address, Vázquez also made reference to the vitality of democracy in the region and lamented the situation Honduras currently finds itself in. “The position of the OAS and of Uruguay, as one of its members, is categorical in its rejection of the coup d’état and in asking for the immediate reestablishment of constitutional order, and the restoration to power of the authorities that were democratically elected by the Honduran people. Uruguay will not recognize a future Government that may arise from the situation of institutional rupture the country faces today and that so deeply hurts its American brothers,” he said.

Finally, Pedro Oyarce, the President of the Permanent Council of the OAS and Ambassador of Chile, highlighted Vázquez’s successful trajectory, calling it “well known, and his vocation for service to the community a life’s testament: the President has an uncompromising commitment to the dignity of the individual and to the promotion of fundamental rights.”

Reference: E-295/09