Uruguay's ruling coalition, Broad Front, came out strongly in support of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and condemned the coup which is being instrumented against the head of state who was supported by 54 million votes in free, open democratic elections.
Uruguay Sunday's department and municipal elections resulted mostly as forecasted with no major surprises, and as advanced by MP 9 May, in the capital Montevideo, with half the country's electorate, the two promising candidates have effectively been the elected mayor, Daniel Martinez and Edgardo Novick, a successful businessman and non political figure, who now becomes head of the opposition.
On Sunday May 10, Uruguay is holding county and municipal elections with 2.6 million eligible voters (out of a population of 3.3m) in an event which will be more centered on local issues and thus will not necessarily replicate the absolute majority vote of the ruling coalition in last October/November presidential and legislative election.
Tabare Vazquez was sworn in as president of Uruguay Sunday, returning to office a decade after first leading the centre left catch-all coalition to power and drawing a curtain on folksy farmer Jose Mujica's colorful rule. Vazquez, a cancer doctor with a more buttoned-down style than the outspoken Mujica, won 53.6% of the vote in a November 30 presidential run-off, reclaiming the office he previously held from 2005 to 2010.
Senator Lucia Topolansky, the wife of outgoing Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, will run for mayor of Montevideo in the May 2015 elections, representatives of the governing centre leftist Broad Front coalition announced this week.
New regulations for broadcast media about to be signed into law shortly. President-elect Tabare Vazquez also supports the move.
High inflation, relatively weak economic growth and an exhausted growth model are forecasted for Uruguayan president-elect Tabare Vazquez second administration as of next March, according to the latest report from two Capital Economics analysts.
Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated on Monday Uruguayan president-elect Tabare Vazquez on his Sunday victory, and said that the US looks forward to working with the new administration and to continue advancing with the vibrant relationship we have had under the leadership of President Jose Mujica.
On Sunday Uruguayan voters will confirm in a runoff the country's next president, which according to all forecasts will be Tabare Vazquez. An oncologist by training, former president (2005/2009) and former mayor of the City of Montevideo, Vazquez and the Broad Front coalition was just less than three percentage points short of the needed 50% in the first round on October 26.
Uruguay's opposition candidate Luis Lacalle Pou admitted on Thursday that defeating incumbent Tabare Vazquez in the 30 November runoff is 'difficult' but not impossible. In last Sunday's first round the incumbent candidate garnered 47.9% of the vote and Lacalle Pou, 30.9%.