Daisy Tourné

Background

Tourné is an elementary school teacher and a social psychologist by profession.

Frente Amplio associations

She is aligned politically with the Frente Amplio movement, which has been in government office since 2005, headed by President of Uruguay Tabaré Vázquez.

Between 1995 and 2007 Tourné served as a deputy for Montevideo, prior to taking up ministerial office.

Family links

Daisy Tourné is a niece to former Senator Uruguay Tourné, of the conservative National Party (Uruguay).

Ministerial office

Between 2007 and June 2009 she served as Interior Minister in the government of President Tabaré Vázquez, the first woman to have been appointed to that post.

Tourné succeeded José Díaz in the post in 2007.

She was herself succeeded in her post in 2009 firstly as a temporary measure by Víctor Rossi, and then by Jorge Bruni as a permanent appointment.

Visit of US President George W. Bush

In 2007, as Interior Minister, Tourné oversaw security for the visit to Uruguay of US President George W. Bush, to whom a significant hostility among many of Ms. Tourné's Frente Amplio colleagues, raised in a tradition which magnifies Che Guevara and his Cuban fellow revolutionaries, was widely noted. This event occurred very shortly after her appointment to office.

Controversies

In 2008 the opposition Colorado Party Presidential front runner Pedro Bordaberry Herrán called on Tourné to resign.

Bordaberry's call followed his publicly expressed doubts about what he claimed was Tourné's lack of commitment to her ministerial responsibility for public safety issues. The criticism, which highlighted likely discourse during the 2009 Presidential elections, was rejected by Tourné.

Resignation from Frente Amplio government

However, Tourné eventually did resign on 4 June 2009. According to some reports, the President himself asked Tourné to resign the Ministry following the incident, while these reports were contradicted by others.

The resignation occurred following some public gaffes, which included comments widely deemed indiscreet about former President Luis Alberto Lacalle. She also made a widely noted personal comment re. former Vice President Luis Antonio Hierro López. This event came about 18 months after the Frente Amplio had disavowed another prominent member within its ranks for comparable comments made regarding the son of former President Lacalle.

Tourné and public debate on alleged 'crudeness' in political discourse

There followed a public debate on the supposed significance of 'crudeness', with some observers having regarded Ms. Tourné as having been unacceptably 'crude'.

In turn, the Uruguayan Socialist Party spokesman on the contrary accused the Opposition of 'crude machismo'. The party also offered an alternative version of the reason for Ms. Tourné's resignation, namely, that she had voluntarily left President Vázquez's government, countering suggestions that she had been dismissed.