
According to a Usina de Percepción Ciudadana survey released this week in Montevideo, opposition candidate Yamandú Orsi of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) would defeat Álvaro Delgado of the ruling Multicolor coalition by 6 percentage points. In case of a runoff, Orsi is expected to garner 50% of the vote, the study found between September 27 and 30 from a sample of 500 people.

Uruguay's presidential hopeful Yamandú Orsi of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) and his running mate Carolina Cosse were in Buenos Aires this week in a campaign maneuver seeking to lure residents in neighboring Argentina to cross the pond and vote for him in the Oct. 27 elections.

Experts in the Uruguayan capital said Monday that the use of bicycles in Montevideo has gone up by 70% since the cycling lanes were inaugurated last year. The lanes for bicycles and other non-motorized means of transport such as skateboards and rollerblades, operational since December, have been deemed a success.

Uruguay's Foreign Ministry announced Friday it was recalling Ambassador Federico Perazza from Stockholm, who was handed down a 6-month suspension without pay after it was determined that he had incurred very serious administrative offenses which included the use of mission money for personal expenses, in addition to the inappropriate use of the official car and the mistreatment of Embassy officials.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Thursday urged the United Nations General Assembly in New York to pay attention to the Venezuelan crisis sparked by Nicolás Maduro's unsupported victory claims in the July 28 elections. “The time has come to act for Venezuela,” the National Party leader underlined.

According to a report from Uruguay's National Statistics Institute (INE) released in Montevideo Wednesday, unemployment in the South American country stood at 8.4% of the economically active population in August, which represented a slight setback from July's 8.3%.

Chilean budget carrier JetSmart announced it would be lifting the Buenos Aires-Montevideo effective Oct. 1 route after finding it unprofitable, particularly when no subsidy was obtained from the Uruguayan government. The service had been operational for only four months.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou was found to have a 45% approval rating according to a study by pollsters Cifra conducted during the month of August and released Thursday in Montevideo. The head of state who is nearing the end of his five-year term also had a 40% negative image, the survey showed.

Uruguayan presidential hopeful Yamandú Orsi told Argentine businessmen in Buenos Aires on Wednesday that he remains “skeptical” about the possibility of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), but insisted that it must remain united to reach such an understanding with China. He also admitted before the Inter-American Council for Trade and Production (CICyP) that “Mercosur is malfunctioning”.

A Uruguayan Air Force (FAU) Hercules C-130 four-engined turboprop aircraft landed back in Montevideo Monday after participating in a firefighting mission in Paraguay. The cooperation consisted mainly of dropping firefighting boxes in the northern Paraguayan Chaco where over 180,000 hectares were engulfed by the flames.