<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Government of Spain has congratulated Yamandú Orsi Martínez on Monday for his election as president of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay.</strong></h4> Yamandú Orsi, leftist candidate of the Frente Amplio, has won the presidential elections in Uruguay this Sunday after defeating the official candidate, Álvaro Delgado, of the National Party. Orsi becomes the third left-wing president in the history of Uruguay and will succeed Luis Lacalle Pou on March 1, 2025. “In the new political stage that is opening in Uruguay, the Government of Spain wishes to continue working with its authorities for the benefit of our people,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The objective of the Spanish Government, the text continues, is to work with the new Uruguayan president to promote “the fight against climate change and the defense of social justice” and take advantage of “the opportunities that open up with the rapprochement between the EU and MERCOSUR, the strengthening of the Ibero-American space and multilateralism and the promotion of economic, cultural and educational exchanges between our two countries.” For his part, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has expressed his “congratulations to Orsi for his “victory in the elections in Uruguay” and has assured, through the social network X, that “Spain and Uruguay are friendly and partner countries.” “Together, we will promote the fight against climate change and social justice” and “we will continue to strengthen our historical ties and deepen our exchanges at all levels,” she added. The second vice president of the Government and leader of Sumar (minority partner of the coalition Government), Yolanda Díaz, also congratulated Yamandú Orsi on the same social network. “The Frente Amplio will once again make Uruguay a reference in Latin America and the world,” she declared. “Congratulations to Yamandú Orsi and (the vice president-elect) Carolina Cosse for their electoral victory, for following in the footsteps of our beloved Pepe Mujica,” she added, referring to the former president of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015 and current leader of the Popular Participation Movement, the majority sector of the Frente Amplio. Yamandú Orsi defeated the Government candidate, the center-right Álvaro Delgado, in the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday by just four percentage points. In his first message on X, the president-elect simply announced: “We will know how to deliver.” Orsi, 57, is a history teacher who spent his childhood in a humble house without electricity in a rural area of Uruguay and whose interest in politics began during his adolescence, after the return of democracy following the military dictatorship of 1973-1985. After his victory, the outgoing president, Luis Lacalle Pou, called Orsi “to congratulate him as president-elect of our country and to put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it pertinent,” he reported through X. He was also congratulated by several Latin American leaders, mainly within the leftist orbit. “Congratulations to Yamandú Orsi and Carolina Cosse, for the victory as president and vice president of the sister Eastern Republic of Uruguay. The Frente Amplio returns to govern by the will of the Uruguayan people who once again demonstrate their democratic and progressive vocation,” declared the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. “Congratulations to the brother Uruguayan people and to the president-elect, Yamandú Orsi, of the Frente Amplio. A clear victory that reaffirms the progressive and democratic tendency in Latin America. Greetings to former president José ‘Pepe’ Mujica,” wrote the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya. “From Chile, all the success on this new path to Yamandú and to the vice president, Carolina Cosse,” said the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric. “I want to congratulate the Uruguayan people for the holding of democratic and peaceful elections and, especially, the president-elect, Yamandú Orsi, and the Frente Amplio of my friend Pepe Mujica for the victory,” declared the president of Brazil, Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva. “It is a victory for all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil and Uruguay will continue to work together in Mercosur and in other forums for fair and sustainable development, for peace and in favour of regional integration," he added.
