Accountability and stability in the Uruguayan regime
The Antel Arena case reveals a significant feature of Uruguay’s political culture: the low salience of administrative accountability within its democratic practice. The case involved the construction of a large public infrastructure project under the leadership of Carolina Cosse, now Vice President-elect. The project’s costs significantly exceeded initial estimates, raising concerns about public resource management. However, after a prolonged investigation, the judiciary archived the case for the second time, prompting Cosse to celebrate the decision as a victory against what she described as a “political operation.” Her single-word Twitter post, “confianza” (confidence)1, encapsulates the broader attitude towards accountability in Uruguay’s political class and electorate.
This episode underscores that political legitimacy in Uruguay is more deeply tied to party loyalty and institutional stability than to performance evaluation or administrative transparency. Cosse’s strong electoral support, despite the management controversy, suggests that voters prioritize continuity and partisan identification over holding leaders accountable for public spending. Her message of “confianza” symbolizes not just personal vindication but the electorate’s trust in her political trajectory, regardless of technical assessments of her management.
The case highlights a democratic misunderstanding: Uruguay’s political stability and “low corruption” image—reinforced by international indices like Transparency International’s CPI—mask a culture of weak accountability regarding public management. Inefficiencies and potential mismanagement are normalized as political discretion, rather than viewed as breaches requiring consequences. This insulates political elites from administrative oversight, sustaining a regime where elections legitimize leadership, but do not serve as mechanisms of corrective evaluation.
Ultimately, the Antel Arena case suggests that Uruguay’s democratic quality leans more towards ensuring elite stability than empowering citizens to demand responsible governance. Cosse’s “confianza” reflects not just her personal triumph but the electorate’s acceptance of a political culture where trust in the system often outweighs demands for accountability.