Uruguay’s incoming president, Yamandú Orsi, has announced the leadership of key agencies overseeing science, technology, and innovation. The move aims to strengthen coordination among institutions such as the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and the National Meat Institute (INAC).
Uruguay's future Human Rights Secretary Collette Spinetti will be the first trans woman to hold a position in the South American country's Executive Branch. She is also the third trans woman to reach public office after Michelle Suárez, who became Uruguay's first trans senator in October 2017, and Alejandra da Rosa, who was elected mayor (governor) of Tacuarembó in 2020. All three stemmed from President-elect Yamandú Orsi's Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA).
Uruguay's future government to be inaugurated on March 1 is evaluating candidates for the Embassy in Buenos Aires. According to local media, former Assistant Presidential Secretary Diego Cánepa seems to be the leading candidate to fill the vacancy left by Carlos Enciso, who resigned to focus on his possible candidacy for the Florida City Council. Foreign Minister Omar Paganini confirmed the position would remain unfilled until the change of government.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font landed in Montevideo Monday in what is his first visit to Uruguay since taking office. He held meetings with like-minded President-elect Yamandú Orsi and former head of State José Pepe Mujica, among other local leaders to discuss how to further strengthen regional integration.
Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi announced that he will not be occupying the Suárez y Reyes Residence after taking office on March 1 but would rather stay at his current domicile in Salinas. “With my family, we already solved some things, like staying there in Salinas. My children are moving on to another stage,” he added regarding their attending high school.
Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi will undergo cataract surgery in the next few days, due to which he will be pausing his transition agenda, it was reported Monday in Montevideo. According to Orsi's press team, the former Mayor (Governor) of Canelones had been postponing these procedures until it was decided to have them performed between Tuesday and Thursday. Orsi is expected to recover soon, so as to resume his activities leading up to his March 1 inauguration.
Former Uruguayan President José Mujica (2010-2015) revealed that the esophageal cancer he was diagnosed with in April 2023 has spread to his liver, which he considers an end point in his medical treatment. “I am dying. I don't want to suffer in vain, my body can't take any more,” he declared in an interview published Thursday by the weekly Búsqueda.
Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who now chairs the BRICS' New Development Bank (NDB) said Friday after meeting with Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi at the latter's transition headquarters that the South American country was best positioned to access financing at lower rates for digital, social infrastructure, and education developments.
Uruguay's President-elect Yamandú Orsi promised US Ambassador Heide Fulton that we will continue working together after his March 1 inauguration. During their meeting Tuesday at the Hampton by Hilton hotel in Montevideo where Orsi set up his transition offices, the diplomat replied that her office would keep working to add Uruguayan nationals to the visa waiver program.
Uruguay's Undersecretary of Tourism Remo Monzeglio said this weekend that he was optimistic about the 2024-25 season for his country, with numerous domestic and also foreign travelers expected, both from cruise ships as well as from neighboring Argentina and Brazil.