Education

During Broad Front's first presidency led by Tabaré Vázquez, a line of action on educational policies was established by the General Law on Education, the National Plan of Education 2010-2030 and the National Strategy of Childhood and Adolescence 2010–2030. However, these guidelines were not strictly followed by Mujica's administration regarding the implemented measures.^[7]

The measures on education taken during this administration tended toward the promotion of the educational inclusion through the democratization of the educational system, giving boost to the infrastructure of schools, the establishment of the Council of Training in Education and of the National Institute of Educational Evaluation, but according to María Ester Mancebo and Alexandra Lizbona, that meant that Broad Front's second administration tended to keep the statu quo in the mandatory education system, without managing to wholly deploy the institutional framework foreseen by the General Law on Education. These scholars also pointed out that despite their strategic importance, two educational policies were not deployed: the reform of the secondary education and the reform of the statute of the teaching staff.^[7]

At the end of 2012 the creation of the Technological University of Uruguay, the second public university of Uruguay, was passed, with a technological focus and with a strong presence in the Uruguayan interior, in order to decentralize the tertiary education of the country.^[8] During this administration, since its creation by law, the founding period of the university saw its first budget assignment, the appointment of a provisional Central Board of Directors members Pablo Chilibroste, María Antonia Grompone and Rodolfo Silveira,^[9] and started to draft the first university degrees.^[10]

Industry, energy and mining

Social policies

Labour

Regarding labour, José Mujica administration continued the policies implemented during the first presidency of Tabaré Vázquez, tending to consolidate labour structures.^[21] During this period, the fourth and fifth rounds of Wage Councils (Consejos de Salarios) took place.^[21]

Fray Bentos international bridge blockade lifting

At the beginnings of 2010, after years of blockade by the citizens of Gualeguaychú city in Entre Ríos, Argentina, the international bridge connecting that city to Uruguayan Fray Bentos was reopened, after a Gualeguaychú neighbours' assembly decided by majority to lift it, that would happen under pressure of the administration of Cristina Fernández following the passing of a decree denouncing before federal courts several individuals from Gualeguaychú blockade group for the alleged commission of crimes. The blockade lifting was promoted after talks with President Mujica where he accepted the request from the President of Argentina to perform joint binational controls of the pulp mill, besides that Mujica did not object the designation of Néstor Kirchner, Fernández' husband, as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations, that it could only be achieved by unanimity or consensus, which until then had been vetoed by former Uruguayan president Vázquez in retaliation for the blockade of the bridges.^[22][23]

Recognition of Palestine

On 15 March 2011 president announced the official recognition of Uruguay to the State of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, according to the principles of international law, and the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. However, this recognition omitted to say with which borders the State of Palestine was going to be recognized.^[24]

Officials from the government of Israel criticized this action, and described it as "a step that will only move away the Palestinians from the peace process instead of encouraging them to return to dialogue", and that the best way to reach a peace agreement is through negotiations and not statements.^[25]

Reception of Guantanamo Bay detention camp detainees

In March 2014, president Mujica accepted the request of the United States government to receive five inmates from the Guantánamo Bay prison, internationally known for the violations of human rights of its detainees. Mujica accepted and stated that he proceeded with Obama's request because its a matter of human rights, of individuals who were imprisoned for years without having gone through trial.^[26]

Reception of Syrian refugees

During the humanitarian and migratory crisis that arose with the beginning of the Syrian civil war and the war against the Islamic State in 2014, the Uruguayan government expressed its desire to shelter Syrian refugee families from Lebanon to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. After an interviewing process, five families overall consisting of 42 persons were selected, among who there were 33 underaged individuals.^[27]

Since they arrived in Uruguay, they were granted permanente residency and provided with accommodation, translation services, access to healthcare, educational and labour adaptation, in addition to receiving a monthly pension whose amount depended on the number of underage children.^[27]

At one point these families protested publicly, stating that the country had a high cost of living, the incomes were too low and the job opportunities were few, besides that they were worried about the issue of public insecurity. They also expreseed their outrage saying that they were "deceived" by the Uruguayan authorities about the information about the country they were given and the promises of "an easy life".^[27]

Seven years later, in 2022, four of the five refugee families remained in Uruguay and one left the country. After some initial economic troubles, the families that stayed in the country managed to adapt, some of them dedicated themselves to a peasant life and others started to work or study, living this process with a low profile. One of the families obtained legal citizenship, with the right to vote, and Uruguayan passports, and they expressed their desire to remain "in a calm country, with freedom".^[28]

Other issues

In the vote on the draft resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to condemn the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Uruguay abstained, despite agreeing with several of the ideas in the draft, although the Uruguayan representative in the session expressed his position of adherence to international law, that no pronouncement contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution should end with the alteration of the internationally recognized borders of that country nor contravene the principle of territorial integrity of the countries. But other aspects of political nature presents in the draft that was under deliberation, considered inconvenient by Uruguay, led to the abstention.^[29]