
It was a March sunny Sunday in Montevideo, and for the solid democracy of Uruguay, business as usual. An outgoing center government was replaced by a center-right coalition that emerged victorious from the runoff last November. Despite fifteen years in office, three mandates, Luis Lacalle Pou, 46, is the new president for the next five years and for the first time with a woman vice president, notary Beatriz Argimón.

A center right president took office in Uruguay on Sunday, promising to crack down on crime and tighten government finances after a 15-year string of left-leaning governments. Luis Lacalle Pou, a 46-year-old surfing enthusiast and son of a former president, narrowly won the election in November, 37.000 votes, in his second try for the top office.

Argentine president Alberto Fernandez held a very positive phone conversation on Wednesday with Uruguayan president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou during which they analyzed the bilateral relation and the regional integration agenda.

Argentina is again putting pressure on Uruguay, this time on the incoming government which takes office next March first, insisting no UK military aircraft linked to the Falkland Islands be allowed to land in the country's airports and Falklands should not be treated as state with which Uruguay has extensive trade and business exchanges.

Mercosur health ministers will be holding an urgent meeting this week in Paraguay to address the spread of dengue, the outbreak of measles and the possible arrival of the China coronavirus to the region.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday he wants a good relationship with Argentina and it is up to the foreign ministers of both countries to agree on a meeting with his peer Alberto Fernandez, since the announced summit scheduled for March first in Montevideo, had fallen through.

This Tuesday the incoming Uruguayan foreign minister Ernesto Talvi will be in Buenos Aires on an invitation from his future peer Felipe Solá, which has been interpreted as the first formal contact between the Kirchnerite government of Alberto Fernandez and that of president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou, who takes office on March first.

Argentine president Alberto Fernández said he was not sure to attend the inauguration of Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou, next March first, when he was expected to meet his Brazilian peer Jair Bolsonaro. Anyhow Fernandez insisted he was most willing to have an interview with Bolsonaro whenever possible.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has proposed a meeting with his Argentine peer Alberto Fernandez on March first in Montevideo when Uruguayan president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou takes office. The information was announced by Argentine foreign minister Felipe Solá, after meeting president Bolsonaro for fifty minutes at his office in Brasilia.

He was considered the guru of Argentine electoral campaigns, the man who helped Mauricio Macri jump from president of one of the two most popular soccer teams in the country, to twice mayor/governor of the City of Buenos Aires and finally to occupy during four years the Pink House, Casa Rosada, defeating the hegemonic Peronist movement.