Daisy Tourné (17 March 1951 – 19 November 2022) was a Uruguayan politician, teacher, and syndicalist.

Early life and career

Daisy Tourné was the daughter of María Obdulia Valdez and Pedro César Tourné, she was a niece to former Senator Uruguay Tourné, of the conservative

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

. Tourné was an elementary school teacher and a social psychologist by profession. Tourné aligned politically with the Frente Amplio movement, which was in government office between 2005 and 2020. Between 1995 and 2007 Tourné served as a deputy for

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, prior to taking up ministerial office.

Ministerial office

Between 2007 and June 2009 she served as Interior Minister in the government of President

Tabaré Vázquez Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas (; 17 January 19406 December 2020) was a Uruguayan politician and oncologist who served as the 39th and 41st President of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020. During his political career, Vázquez was a ...

, the first woman to have been appointed to that post. Tourné succeeded José Díaz in the post in 2007. Tourné 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.

Controversies

In 2007, as Interior Minister, Tourné oversaw security for the visit to Uruguay of US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, to whom a significant hostility among many of Tourné's Frente Amplio colleagues, raised in a tradition which magnifies

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

and his Cuban fellow revolutionaries, was widely noted. This event occurred very shortly after her appointment to office. In 2008 the opposition Colorado Party Presidential front runner

Pedro Bordaberry Juan Pedro Bordaberry Herrán (born 28 April 1960) is a Uruguayan attorney, lecturer, and politician, serving as Senate of Uruguay, Senator of the Republic since 2025. He previously served in the same position from 2010 to 2020, as Ministry of To ...

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 from 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 Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera (; ''Lacalle'' locally or ; born 13 July 1941) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer who served as the 36th president of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995. A member of the National Party, he previously served as Nation ...

. She also made a widely noted personal comment regarding 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 Tourné's resignation, namely, that she had voluntarily left President Vázquez's government, countering suggestions that she had been dismissed.

Personal life and death

Tourné died on 19 November 2022, at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tourne, Daisy 1951 births 2022 deaths Interior ministers of Uruguay Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay Broad Front (Uruguay) politicians Politicians from Montevideo Uruguayan people of French descent Women government ministers of Uruguay 20th-century Uruguayan women politicians 20th-century Uruguayan politicians 21st-century Uruguayan women politicians 21st-century Uruguayan politicians Female interior ministers Members of the Latin American Parliament Human communication