Uruguay

• Tuesday, March 2nd 2010 - 04:26 UTC

  Uruguay: Mujica calls for political dialogue and commitment to Mercosur

  

  Jose “Pepe” Mujica, (74) who decades ago served time in prison for taking up arms against Uruguay's “bourgeois state” was sworn in Monday as the country's new president. In his main speech he called for dialogue and regional integration.

• Tuesday, March 2nd 2010 - 02:24 UTC

  Hillary Clinton praises Uruguayan democratic system as “very strong”

  

  United States Secretary of States Hillary Clinton described the Uruguayan democracy as “very strong” and praised the solidity of its political system. Mrs. Clinton was in Montevideo on Monday, for a few hours, representing President Barack Obama in the inauguration ceremony of Uruguayan president Jose Mujica.

• Monday, March 1st 2010 - 06:00 UTC

  Uruguay aims to reduce debt load and boost trade in next five years

  

  Uruguay’s Vice President-elect Danilo Astori said the next government will reduce the country’s debt load and seek to boost trade with the rest of the world in a bid to bolster economic growth.

• Monday, March 1st 2010 - 05:24 UTC

  If Mercosur is failing, “we are doing something wrong”, said Mujica

  

  Uruguay’s president elect Jose Mujica who takes office Monday March first admitted that Mercosur is “failing” because “we are doing something wrong”, but was enthusiastic about Latinamerican integration and praised Argentina, a country where “Uruguayans are not foreigners”.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 06:35 UTC

  Mujica praises “strong message” from the US; plans to invite Obama to Uruguay

  

  Uruguayan president elect Jose Mujica will hold a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday morning, before the official inauguration, and will take advantage of her presence to invite US President Barack Obama to visit Uruguay.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 02:32 UTC

  Hillary Clinton at Uruguayan President Mujica’s inauguration

  

  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting five Latinamerican countries next week beginning in Uruguay, representing President Barack Obama at the inauguration ceremony of president elect Jose Mujica on March first, according to Washington diplomatic sources.

• Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 - 02:18 UTC

  IMF suggests Uruguay returns to “fiscal objectives” and creates “energy fund”

  

  The International Monetary Fund, IMF suggested Uruguay should retake its most ambitious “fiscal objectives” in the coming five-year budget to be discussed this year by the new parliament. The emphasis should be in “restricting” outlays since the current level of salary increases for civil service is “not sustainable”.

• Saturday, February 20th 2010 - 21:18 UTC

  President elect Mujica prepared to support Kirchner as Unasur chairman

  

  The next Uruguayan administration is open to consider voting for former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner as chairman of the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, said Luis Almagro the incoming Minister of Foreign Affairs.

• Thursday, February 18th 2010 - 22:17 UTC

  Mujica administration plans to strengthen political links with the region

  

  Uruguay’s president-elect Jose Mujica, once instated next March first, will be visiting several countries of the region while his administration will attempt closer political links with neighbouring countries to facilitate trade, said Luis Almagro, the future Foreign Affairs minister.

• Thursday, February 18th 2010 - 00:06 UTC

  Uruguayan main opposition leader praises pragmatism of president elect

  

  Uruguay’s opposition main leader and former president Luis Alberto Lacalle (1990/1995) praised the pragmatism of president elect and former guerrilla leader Jose Pepe Mujica who will be taking office next March first.