Uruguayan summer resorts recorded a 10.45% increase in tourist spending compared to the previous year, with 572,699 visitors entering the country. Popular destinations like Punta del Este, Piriápolis, and Barra del Chuy saw high demand, with accommodation prices soaring. Some apartments in the exclusive Punta del Este fetched up to US$ 20,000 per month. The surge was largely driven by Argentine tourists, compensating for a decline in Brazilian visitors. Montevideo's Carrasco International Airport also hit a record with 206,000 passengers.
Uruguay’s economy expanded by 3.1% in 2024, recovering from a severe drought the previous year, according to national accounts data released by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU). However, economists warn that growth in 2025 is likely to return to the country's historical pace of slower expansion.
Former Uruguayan President Julio Maria Sanguinetti was inaugurated as a corresponding member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) last Monday. In his acceptance speech, he emphasized the shared history of Uruguay and Brazil and how territorial disputes evolved into unity and brotherhood.
Hackers from Argentina, identified as LaPampaLeaks, BogotaLeaks, and Uruguayo 1337, Monday hit the website of Uruguay’s National Directorate of Civil Aviation and Aeronautical Infrastructure (DINACIA). Using DNS poisoning, they defaced the site, exposing private data of President Yamandú Orsi, such as his phone number and records, as well as those of Agency for Electronic Government and Knowledge Society (Agencia del Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad del Conocimiento - Agesic) Security Director Mauricio Papaleo.
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.