Uruguay is shifting to the center-left as Yamandú Orsi was sworn in as the country’s new president on Saturday. Backed by former leader José “Pepe” Mujica, Orsi has pledged a “modern left” approach, balancing economic growth with stronger social policies.
Orsi took office as Uruguay’s new president after a narrow election victory.
He promised a balanced approach to governance, focusing on social welfare and investment.
Uruguay faces economic and social challenges, with nearly 19% of the population in multidimensional poverty.
Diplomatic ties with the U.S., China, and Mercosur countries will test Orsi’s leadership.
Orsi, a 57-year-old former mayor, won the presidency in November, defeating the ruling center-right coalition. Seen as a moderate, he has promised a pragmatic leftist agenda, emphasizing both social protection and business-friendly policies.
During his inaugural speech at Montevideo’s Legislative Palace, Orsi made clear his government would not overhaul the system but instead push for “new proposals and permanent construction.” The chamber erupted in applause when he credited Mujica, the iconic leftist former president.
Outgoing conservative leader Luis Lacalle Pou presented Orsi with the presidential sash during an outdoor ceremony where the two shared a brief embrace.
Throughout his campaign, Orsi reassured Uruguayans that his government would avoid radical policy changes in one of South America's most stable economies, known for cattle ranching, progressive laws, and steady growth.
Uruguay’s economy, fueled by farm exports, is projected to grow in 2025, but high living costs, inequality, and rising crime rates have weakened public trust in the previous administration.
“The destiny and future of this country has to change,” Orsi said in an interview with Reuters before the election, insisting that his Broad Front coalition, which secured a Senate majority, was the force to make that change.
According to a February 19 report by the National Statistics Agency (INE), 19% of Uruguayans faced multidimensional poverty, measured by deprivations in areas like education, housing, and employment.
The new government’s priority is to boost social programs while attracting investment and skilled workers—without raising taxes.
Orsi’s government enters at a time of global trade tensions, with Uruguay balancing ties between China, its largest trading partner, and the U.S., a key regional ally.
"Uruguay will be under a lot of pressure from the U.S. to limit Chinese investment in critical sectors like infrastructure and telecommunications," said Nicolás Saldías from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Despite this, U.S.-Uruguay trade surged by 68% in 2024, creating new opportunities for economic cooperation. Orsi’s government will need strong diplomacy to navigate relations with the Trump administration.
Uruguay has also been negotiating a bilateral trade deal with China since 2021, while pushing for a broader China-Mercosur agreement. In December, Mercosur reached a long-awaited trade deal with the European Union after decades of talks.
Orsi also faces a divided Mercosur bloc, with left-wing Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s libertarian leader Javier Milei at odds. While Lula attended the inauguration, Milei skipped the event due to the opening of Argentina’s Congress.
In a break from past Uruguayan foreign policy, Orsi hesitated to invite Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro after his disputed election in July. Ultimately, the decision was left to Lacalle Pou’s outgoing government, which blocked officials from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, citing their lack of democratic governance.
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Works have reached an agreement on the construction of a new railway line to c...
Two of China’s biggest electric-vehicle makers may have to return a combined 373 million yuan (about $53 million) in state aid after a government au...
Uzbekistan and the State of Eritrea signed a Joint Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations through their respective UN Missions....
China said it is ready to "continuously" boost strategic coordination with Moscow. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Russian counterpart Sergey La...
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Malaysia, calling the talks 'positive and constructive' despite growing te...
Two of China’s biggest electric-vehicle makers may have to return a combined 373 million yuan (about $53 million) in state aid after a government audit said nearly 22,000 cars sold up to 2020 should never have qualified for clean-energy incentives.
China said it is ready to "continuously" boost strategic coordination with Moscow. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday that Beijing is prepared to help safeguard both countries’ security and development interests.
Russia’s health watchdog said on Friday it is monitoring an anthrax outbreak in Kazakhstan’s Akmola region, where two villages were quarantined after infections in cattle and local residents.
Belarus will play an active part in next month’s United Nations conference for landlocked developing countries in Turkmenistan, Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov told his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov during a telephone call on Thursday.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
A deadly mass shooting early on Monday (7 July) in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighbourhood left three men dead and nine others wounded, including teenagers, as more than 100 shots were fired.
On July 4, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Khankendi, reaffirming the deep-rooted alliance between the two nations.
The 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was successfully held in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, highlighting the region’s revival and the deepening economic cooperation among member states.
France recorded over 100 drowning deaths in just one month — a 58% rise from last year — as unusually high temperatures drove more people to water, public health officials say.
Migration offset natural decline for the fourth consecutive year, pushing the European Union’s population to an historic high of 450.4 million in 2024, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.
Germany’s public debt is projected to climb from 62.5% to 74% of GDP by 2030, driven by record defence and infrastructure spending, according to a report by the European rating agency Scope.
The global oil market may be tighter than headline supply-demand figures suggest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday, citing rising refinery activity and seasonal summer demand as key drivers of short-term market pressure.
China’s exports are expected to have grown 5% in June as manufacturers hurried goods abroad ahead of a 12 August deadline that could see the U.S. restore punitive tariffs, a Reuters survey of economists indicates.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment