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Centre-left candidate Yamandú Orsi has won Uruguay’s presidential elections against his centre-right rival, promising moderate change in one of Latin America’s wealthiest and most stable countries.
Uruguay’s electoral authority said Orsi of the Frente Amplio coalition had won 49.8 per cent of the vote in a run-off election on Sunday, with 96 per cent of ballots counted, against 45.9 per cent for the National party’s Álvaro Delgado, a former cabinet chief of incumbent President Luis Lacalle Pou.
Orsi, 57, a mayor and former teacher, vowed to build “a more integrated country” in an address to supporters after his victory.
“No one must be left behind, from the social, economic and political point of view,” he said.
“This must also be a country that moves towards development, prosperity, national growth, a country that advances.”
Lacalle Pou, who was constitutionally barred from standing for re-election, and Delgado conceded defeat.
Orsi has promised to increase social spending while avoiding raising taxes, which are already high by regional standards, and to stimulate economic growth.
However Orsi’s candidate for finance minister, Gabriel Oddone, told local media this month that the party could not rule out tax rises.
Orsi has also pledged a crackdown on crime, which polls show has become Uruguayans’ top concern as drug gangs have expanded activity in the country.
Supporters of Yamandu Orsi celebrate early results in Montevideo on Sunday © Andres Cuenca/Reuters
Uruguay is among Latin America’s most stable economies, with the lowest borrowing costs in the region. Last month, voters rejected a proposal to lower the retirement age and raise pensions, a move that analysts said would bolster the country’s reputation as a haven for investment.
However economic growth has stagnated over the past decade, and the fiscal deficit has widened to 4.4 per cent. Inflation remains high at about 5 per cent.
Orsi, who will take office on March 1, has spent the past decade as mayor of Uruguay’s second-most populous region Canelones, and was part of negotiations that led Google to invest $850mn in a data centre there.
Orsi’s campaign manager Alejandro Sánchez told the Financial Times last month that the candidate’s priority would be to eradicate child poverty, which stands at 25 per cent.
“To do that, the economy needs to grow . . . and to grow the economy needs to be much more open,” he said.
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Orsi has said he would seek to lower tariffs with China while respecting the rules of the Mercosur trade bloc — made up of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia — which prevents members from striking their own trade deals.
Sánchez said the new administration also planned to attract investment by reducing bureaucracy, offering companies energy subsidies and highlighting Uruguay’s green credentials.
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Publish date : 2024-11-24 13:49:00
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