Uruguayan President and his children land in Antarctica

Wednesday, December 20th 2023 - 10:19 UTC

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Lacalle and his children were expected to stay at the Artigas base for nearly 24 hours

The Uruguayan Air Force's Lockheed C-130 Hercules FAU 594 carrying President Luis Lacalle Pou and his children landed at the South American country's Artigas Base (BCAA) in Antarctica on Tuesday. “After 30 years, I have returned to Antarctica. The Artigas base houses military and civilians who work side by side,” Lacalle wrote on social networks.

“Everyone takes care of and explores this unique corner of the world that we must preserve,” he added to his post, alongside pictures of himself and his children. Lacalle planned to spend almost 24 hours in Antarctica.

The president's trip had been postponed due to adverse weather conditions. Also traveling with the head of state was Defense Minister Javier García. On Monday, Lacalle transferred the powers of his office to Vice President Beatriz Argimón in case his return was delayed.

The Uruguayan delegation left Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time for the Chilean Frei Montalva base near the BCAA.

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A post shared by Luis Lacalle Pou (@luislacallepou)

Lacalle's agenda included a tour of the base on King George Island, where he was to be briefed on ongoing scientific projects on the structure and occurrence of anthropogenic noise, as well as other geodetic, geophysical, and topographic studies, and research on penguins.

Weather permitting, Lacalle is expected to return to Montevideo around midnight Wednesday after a stopover in Punta Arenas, Chile.