Uruguay's Public Health Ministry (MSP) launched its 2025 vaccination campaign, focusing on influenza, measles, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to address seasonal and emerging health challenges, it was announced in Montevideo.
Uruguayan lawmakers submitted a new euthanasia bill before the Lower House, reviving a proposal already passed there in 2022 but stalled in the Senate. The bill, introduced by deputies from the Colorado Party (PC) and the ruling Brooad Front (Frente Amplio - FA), is supported by a multiparty coalition including members of the Partido Nacional and Partido Independiente. The initiative seeks to allow assisted death for individuals with terminal, incurable, and irreversible diseases.
Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi suspended for 180 days a regulation passed last month by the previous administration of Luis Lacalle Pou concerning the National Institute of Animal Welfare (INBA) to prioritize animal welfare in horsetaming (jineteadas). The newly-inaugurated head of State said the measure approved last Feb. 10 was too strict to rural sectors, forcing them to cancel several traditional events.
Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin announced that UN Secretary-General António Guterres would be visiting the South American country before the end of the year. Uruguay's top diplomat made those remarks after meeting with the Portuguese official, with whom he discussed health, peace, and environment issues for about 40 minutes.
Uruguay's Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin confirmed that his country's military mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a UN peacekeeping force will return home between late March and early April 2025. Lubetkin made the announcement after meetings in New York with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. The relief of Uruguayan troops will be carried out in stages, it was also explained.
Customs officials in Antwerp, Belgium seized some 547 kilos of cocaine inside a container with rice that left the port of Montevideo. The catch took place at the end of February and involved the vessel Grande Nigeria, belonging to the Grimaldi Group, according to Uruguayan prosecution sources.
Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin had on Wednesday his first formal day in office on Wednesday. During a ceremony in Montevideo attended by President Yamandú Orsi and Vice President Carolina Cosse, the South American country's top diplomat emphasized Uruguay's role as an “actor of peace” to help reduce global tensions.
China’s customs authorities have suspended beef imports from seven meatpacking facilities across Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Mongolia as of March 3, 2025. The affected companies include two Argentine exporters (Frigorífico Regional General Las Heras SA and Frio Dock SA), three Brazilian slaughterhouses (Frisa Frigorífico Rio Doce S/A, Bon-Mart Frigorífico Ltda, and JBS S/A), one Uruguayan facility (Frigorífico Sirsil SA), and a Mongolian supplier. No official reason for the measure was provided, though it follows a 2024 record of 2.87 million metric tons of beef imports, which led to an oversupplied market and historically low domestic beef prices in China.
Under the Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) presidency of Yamandú Orsi, Uruguay will no longer recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as winner of the controversial July 28 elections, where the incumbent Nicolás Maduro emerged triumphant amid fraud allegations. Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin also underlined that Montevideo did not recognize Maduro either.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited Mexico, Colombia, and Uruguay to participate in the upcoming BRICS summit in July in Rio de Janeiro. The bloc, which includes Brazil, China, and India, represents 40% of the world's population. The summit will focus on reducing dependence on the US dollar and promoting local currencies in transactions.