Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 10th 2025 - 10:19 UTC

Uruguay

  • Sunday, October 27th 2024 - 21:55 UTC

    Uruguay's 2024 Election: Voter turnout reaches 40% by midday, anticipating a close race

    The candidate of the leftist Frente Amplio, Orsi, promoted by former president José Pepe Mujica, is the favorite in the polls

    As Uruguayans head to the polls this October 27 to elect their president, vice-president, and Parliament, preliminary reports from the Electoral Court indicate a steady turnout. By midday, 40% of the 2,727,120 eligible voters had cast their ballots across the country's 7,276 polling circuits. Voting is mandatory in Uruguay, with those abstaining required to pay a fine or present a valid excuse, such as illness, disability, or international travel.

  • Saturday, October 26th 2024 - 10:34 UTC

    Brazilian Police do it again: 20 Peñarol fans remanded in Rio

    “We were defending ourselves from an attack,” a Peñarol fan said about the clash with supporters of Rio teams Botafogo, Flamengo, and Fluminense

    A total of 21 supporters of Uruguayan football club Peñarol were arrested this week in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro before a match with Botafogo and charged with racism, damage, and criminal association. “Nobody justifies criminal behavior, but this was a scandal,” said Peñarol's lawyer and former President Jorge Barrera. Brazil's criminal procedural legislation contemplates “these regrettable but foreseeable results,” he added.

  • Thursday, October 24th 2024 - 11:05 UTC

    What the polls say three days before the presidential elections in Uruguay

    Yamandú Orsi (R) of the opposition Frente Amplio leads the race with around 44% support, according to the latest polls from both Cifra and Factum

    Uruguayans will head to the polls on October 27 to elect a successor to President Luis Lacalle Pou and renew the country's Parliament. According to the latest surveys, no candidate is expected to secure the required 50% of votes, setting the stage for a November runoff.

  • Wednesday, October 23rd 2024 - 21:33 UTC

    Uruguay signs agreement to build prison for transgender people

    The initiative seeks to achieve “zero overcrowding” in penitentiary institutions, Martinelli explained

    The Uruguayan government of President Luis Lacalle Pou signed on Tuesday a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement for the construction of a new women's prison with accommodation for transgender inmates at a cost of US$46 million, it was announced in Montevideo.

  • Wednesday, October 23rd 2024 - 09:45 UTC

    Citizens of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, and Uruguay turn to 'iron fist' policies to fight insecurity

    The study identifies politicians, weak judicial systems, and media sensationalism as key drivers of public fear.

    A recent study conducted by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) and the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH) reveals that citizens in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, and Uruguay are increasingly open to harsh punitive measures, or mano dura, as a response to rising insecurity.

  • Tuesday, October 22nd 2024 - 09:25 UTC

    Unusually bad weather forecast for River Plate area

    In Buenos Aires, a month's worth of rainfall could be recorded in less than two days, it was explained

    Weather forecasters in Uruguay and Argentina foresee unusually bad conditions for the coming days in the River Plate area, it was reported in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where concerns were higher given next Sunday's presidential Elections coupled with two simultaneous plebiscites that might shape up the South American country's near future.

  • Monday, October 21st 2024 - 10:56 UTC

    Uruguay: Mujica makes last public political appearance

    ”No to hatred and confrontation, we must work for hope”, former guerrilla leader Mujica also stressed

    Battling esophageal cancer and age, former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica made what is believed to be his last public appearance this past weekend by showing up at a rally of “La 609” or MPP, the Broad Front (FA) faction he once founded. “Goodbye, I give you my heart,” Mujica stressed on Saturday during a campaign closing event a week before the Oct. 27 elections.

  • Friday, October 18th 2024 - 10:35 UTC

    Uruguayan productive lands changing hands rapidly

    Between January and August, foreign capitals mostly from the United States, Japan, Brazil, and Argentina bought 135,888 hectares

    Uruguayan productive lands were said this week in Montevideo to be changing hands at a faster pace in the first six months of 2024 as the number of hectares traded doubled year-on-year according to the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry's (MGAP) “Price of land” report.

  • Wednesday, October 16th 2024 - 10:11 UTC

    Uruguay: International airport at Melo inaugurated

    “The far northeast of the country is no longer so far away,” Lacalle stressed

    Just a few days after the first domestic flight within Uruguay operated by Paraguayan carrier Paranair between Montevideo and Salto, President Luis Lacalle Pou Monday inaugurated the new international airport at the city of Melo, which showed the Multicolor coalition's commitment to developing and strengthening the country's air connectivity. The terminal's remodeling was part of the operations of the National System of International Airports and had a cost of US$ 12 million.

  • Monday, October 14th 2024 - 17:47 UTC

    In a dull campaign and dull candidates, Uruguay votes new president and parliament on Sunday October 27

    In less than two weeks time, Sunday 27 October, 2,8 million Uruguayan voters will be electing a new president, and a new parliament, 99 Lower House members and 30 Senators for the 2025/2030 period.