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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 19th 2026 - 09:36 UTC

Uruguay

  • Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 02:31 UTC

    Uruguay: Orsi's approval falls to 29% and disapproval climbs to 46%, new survey shows

    By age groups, voters between 18 and 33 register the lowest approval levels and the highest disapproval levels, in a clear inversion of the historical pattern of the Broad Front electorate

    The administration of Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi has reached its lowest approval level since he took office as head of state in March 2025, according to the national survey by the polling firm Factum released on Monday for the second two-month period of 2026. The poll places presidential approval at 29% and disapproval at 46%, while 24% of those surveyed neither approve nor disapprove of the administration. The firm describes the dynamic as “a systematic process of falling approval and rising disapproval,” confirming the trend already identified last week by the polling firm Equipos, which had placed disapproval at 48%.

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  • Sunday, May 17th 2026 - 13:48 UTC

    Brazil leads South America's military spending and Uruguay posts one of the largest relative rises, SIPRI says

    The most striking data point in the region corresponds to Uruguay, which moved to a military budget of USD 577.2 million in 2025, an increase of nearly 80% in five years.

    Brazil consolidated its position as South America's leading defense spender during 2025, with a military budget of approximately USD 23.9 billion and a 13% year-on-year increase, while Uruguay recorded one of the steepest relative rises in the region, according to the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Saturday. The region as a whole increased its military spending by 3.4% compared with 2024, in line with a global trend of armed forces modernization, open conflicts, and growing geopolitical tensions.

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  • Friday, May 15th 2026 - 13:27 UTC

    Chilean former president defends “people-centered” multilateralism in Montevideo against authoritarian projects

    Bachelet linked the regional democratic erosion to the “profound disconnect between institutions and people”

    Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, currently a candidate for the United Nations Secretary General, defended on Thursday in Montevideo the need for “a more representative, inclusive, and people-centered multilateralism” in the face of advancing “authoritarian projects” in the international order, during the keynote of the seminar “Geopolitics, Multilateralism, and Risks to Gender-Parity Democracy in the New International Order.” The event, organized by IDEA Internacional, is taking place at Uruguay's Legislative Palace as part of the Latin American Women in Politics Meeting, which brings together regional political leaders until Friday.

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  • Friday, May 15th 2026 - 03:05 UTC

    Uruguay: Orsi's disapproval climbs to 48% as approval falls to 27% in his first year in office

    The net balance between disapproval and approval widened from -7 points in February to -21 points by the end of April, a gap more than double the one recorded at the start of the year

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi's administration recorded a significant deterioration in public approval as the government marked its first year in office, according to the latest survey by the polling firm Equipos released on Thursday on the Subrayado newscast. The president's disapproval rose to 48%, up from 40% in February, while approval fell from 33% to 27% over the same period. Intermediate assessments held roughly steady at around 23%, and 2% of respondents declined to answer.

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  • Thursday, May 14th 2026 - 09:21 UTC

    Orsi prepares for Washington visit after months of overtures to the Trump administration

    “I am the president of Uruguay and I do not conduct foreign policy representing a political force. I do it thinking about what suits Uruguay,” the president argued

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi will travel to Washington “in the coming months” to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump, in a meeting that national authorities describe as agreed and awaiting only the coordination of calendars, according to Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin's confirmation on Wednesday before the Senate International Affairs Committee. The summit would crown a series of overtures by the Broad Front government toward the Republican administration, initiated in the early weeks of Orsi's term, which began in March, and which have generated controversy within the ruling coalition itself.

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  • Wednesday, May 6th 2026 - 12:14 UTC

    Uruguay's president meets Brazilian executives in São Paulo to open 'new phase' of commercial ties

    The meetings, held throughout Tuesday, gathered executives from the mining, logistics, banking, food, tourism, pulp, soybean, pharmaceutical, metallurgical and supermarket sectors

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi made a day trip to São Paulo on Tuesday to meet Brazilian business leaders interested in investing in Uruguay, in an agenda Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin described as an opportunity to “move to a new phase in the levels of commercial development and Brazilian investments” in the South American country. The official delegation included Lubetkin himself, Economy and Finance Minister Gabriel Oddone, Uruguay's ambassador to Brazil Rodolfo Nin Novoa, and the executive director of investment promotion agency Uruguay XXI, Mariana Ferreira.

  • Monday, May 4th 2026 - 01:39 UTC

    Orsi follows Milei and Kast aboard USS Nimitz as opposition alleges unconstitutionality

    The entry of the US military aircraft into Carrasco that carried the President airport triggered immediate criticism from the opposition

    Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi visited the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz of the United States Navy in international waters off the Uruguayan coast on Saturday, in a new chapter of the Southern Seas 2026 regional deployment, following the steps of Argentine President Javier Milei and Chilean President José Antonio Kast, who had toured the same vessel in previous weeks. The invitation was extended by the US ambassador in Montevideo, Lou Rinaldi, and the delegation was transported from Carrasco Air Base No. 1 to the carrier's deck aboard a Grumman C-2 Greyhound military aircraft of the US Armed Forces.

  • Friday, May 1st 2026 - 06:40 UTC

    After 25 years of negotiation, the Mercosur-EU agreement takes effect this Friday

    The accord was signed on January 17th in La Asunción, Paraguay

    The association agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) enters provisionally into force on Friday May 1, after more than a quarter-century of negotiations, in what constitutes one of the world's most ambitious trade deals and the largest reciprocal opening ever finalised by the South American bloc. The final signing took place on January 17 in Asunción and, although final ratification by the European Court of Justice and subsequent approval by the European Parliament remain pending, provisional entry into force allows the immediate start of tariff reductions covering 95% of Mercosur products and 91% of EU products.

  • Tuesday, April 28th 2026 - 19:22 UTC

    Ex-President Lacalle Pou: 'I will not die without seeing Paraguay have a sea outlet in Uruguay'

    Lacalle Pou revealed that private investors are already exploring possible sites for the project

    Former Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou (2020-2025) reignited the debate on Tuesday over the construction of a port in Uruguayan territory aimed at providing Paraguay with maritime access, during an event in the Paraguayan city of Santa Rita, in the Alto Paraná department. “I will not die without truly seeing Paraguay have a sea outlet in Uruguay. I am convinced we must move forward on this,” the political leader said at the gathering held to mark the tenth anniversary of the alliance between local company Sul América Insumos Agrícolas and Uruguayan firm Proquimir.

  • Monday, April 27th 2026 - 20:45 UTC

    Mercosur Parliament recalls Pope Francis as a 'peacebuilder' from the global south

    Parlasur President Rodrigo Gamarra of Paraguay said the Argentine pope left “a very great legacy” and stressed the need for the bloc's member states to revive his teachings on peace

    The Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) held a special session in Montevideo on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, in which lawmakers and religious representatives from the bloc's member states highlighted the late Argentine pontiff's legacy as an international mediator, advocate for the most vulnerable, and a geopolitical figure who emerged from “the periphery.” The tribute, titled “Francis, the Pope of peace: toward a geopolitics of peace in Mercosur,” took place in the Uruguayan Chamber of Representatives at the Legislative Palace.

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