Uruguayan bishops held a solemn mass on Wednesday at Montevideo’s Cathedral to honor the life and legacy of Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88. The ceremony drew around a thousand attendees, filling every seat and standing space in the historic church.
Senior Uruguayan Navy officers, including former Commander-in-Chief Jorge Wilson, were handed down arrest sanctions for their roles in purchasing two ocean patrol vessels (OPVs) from Spain's Cardama shipyard, a company with no experience in that type of unit, and was also facing financial hardships.
Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi picked Tamara Paseyro, previously the director of Social and Urban Integration at the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Ordering (MVOT), to become the new Minister of Housing, replacing Cecilia Cairo following her resignation amid a days-long scandal regarding unpaid taxes on her residence in Montevideo’s Pajas Blancas area.
Cecilia Cairo resigned as Uruguay's Minister of Housing and Territorial Planning on Thursday following controversy over her failure to regularize her house’s construction and update its real estate taxes for at least 20 years, making minimum payments incompatible with the residence's size. President Yamandú Orsi plans to accept her resignation through a formal note on Friday.
Following Buenos Aires' announcements regarding the lifting of restrictions to exchange local pesos into US dollars, neighboring Uruguay and Paraguay are preparing for the changes to come. Both countries foresee an increasing influx of Argentine travelers to benefit from the new scenario, which in the case of Paraguay also includes a depreciating guaraní.
Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi congratulated Daniel Noboa on his reelection in Ecuador after discussing the fraud allegations with Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin, it was reported in Montevideo. The Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) leader also mourned the passing of Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and reviewed the Arazatí Water Project as well as the country's situation regarding soup kitchens and homelessness.
Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi agreed Wednesday in Tegucigalpa with his Colombian colleague Gustavo Petro to advance Latin American integration through a continental electricity grid powered by renewable energy, a regional pharmaceutical agency to produce essential medicines, and cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum mathematics, and space exploration.
Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health (MSP) Wednesday issued an alert for measles ahead of Tourism Week -the country's lay version of Easter Week- urging travelers, especially those heading to Argentina, to verify they have two doses of the measles vaccine, as the neighboring country has been reported to be experiencing community transmission of the highly contagious disease, just like parts of the US and Europe.
Uruguay's Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin underlined in Honduras the importance of regional cooperation and unity during his message at the IX Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), which he deemed the most inclusive forum in Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together 33 states.
Mercosur is expecting one of the best rice harvests of the last decade, and particularly in Uruguay (exporter of prime quality rice), yields of harvested fields are indicating possible new records. However Uruguay rice farmers are facing trade, price and logistics hurdles, according to farmer Karol Pinczak.