Uruguay Goes to the Polls
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Overview
In 2019, Uruguayans elected conservative Luis Lacalle Pou as president following 15 years of rule by the center-left Frente Amplio coalition. Five years later, Lacalle Pou remains popular. Ineligible to run for immediate reelection on October 27, he is instead running for Senate and a close ally and former member of his cabinet, Álvaro Delgado, is representing the National Party. A centrist former mayor of Canelones, Yamandú Orsi, won the Frente Amplio primary in June.
Incumbent parties have had it rough in Latin America in recent years, but the ruling National Party has several advantages, including growing agricultural production following a prolonged drought. The Frente Amplio will emphasize public concerns about crime and a scandal involving Uruguayan passports issued to criminals. Either candidate would likely maintain strong ties to the United States, but the election could reshape Uruguay’s approach to foreign policy challenges such as the collapse of democracy in Venezuela.
To learn more, please join the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program on Thursday, September 19, 2024, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am ET, for a conversation about Uruguay’s presidential election, with insights from experts including Lacalle Pou’s father, former President Luis Lacalle Herrera, who will participate from Montevideo. Nicolás Saldías, Amparo Mercader, and Gabriel Oddone will join us in Washington.
Speakers
Nicolás Saldías
Amparo Mercader
Gabriel Oddone
Pedro Isern
Keynote Speaker
Luis Lacalle Herrera
Hosted By
Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more
