The Uruguayan government announced on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from the Union of South American Nations, Unasur and returning to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, TIAR.
Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou had his first contact with US President Donald Trump last Saturday, reported White House, special advisor, Judd Deere in a tweet.
Surrounded by security and stopped by some parishioners who asked for a photo, the new president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou and part of his cabinet walked this Monday in the middle aisle of Montevideo’s Cathedral, to an interfaith ceremony held to pray for the new government.
It was a March sunny Sunday in Montevideo, and for the solid democracy of Uruguay, business as usual. An outgoing center government was replaced by a center-right coalition that emerged victorious from the runoff last November. Despite fifteen years in office, three mandates, Luis Lacalle Pou, 46, is the new president for the next five years and for the first time with a woman vice president, notary Beatriz Argimón.
A center right president took office in Uruguay on Sunday, promising to crack down on crime and tighten government finances after a 15-year string of left-leaning governments. Luis Lacalle Pou, a 46-year-old surfing enthusiast and son of a former president, narrowly won the election in November, 37.000 votes, in his second try for the top office.
Wendy Morton, the foreign office minister of European Neighborhood and the Americas arrives this Monday to Buenos Aires to meet with members of the Kirchner government, who over the weekend announced a new more demanding and aggressive Argentine policy referred to the Falklands and South Atlantic Islands sovereignty claim.
Argentine president Alberto Fernandez held a very positive phone conversation on Wednesday with Uruguayan president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou during which they analyzed the bilateral relation and the regional integration agenda.
Argentina is again putting pressure on Uruguay, this time on the incoming government which takes office next March first, insisting no UK military aircraft linked to the Falkland Islands be allowed to land in the country's airports and Falklands should not be treated as state with which Uruguay has extensive trade and business exchanges.
Mercosur health ministers will be holding an urgent meeting this week in Paraguay to address the spread of dengue, the outbreak of measles and the possible arrival of the China coronavirus to the region.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday he wants a good relationship with Argentina and it is up to the foreign ministers of both countries to agree on a meeting with his peer Alberto Fernandez, since the announced summit scheduled for March first in Montevideo, had fallen through.