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LATIN AMERICA | 25-11-2024 22:22

Orsi, Uruguay's president-elect, visits mentor Mujica after run-off win

Frente Amplio leader Yamandú Orsi, who won last Sunday's presidential run-off plays up ties to ex-president Jose 'Pepe' Mujica ahead of taking office.

Uruguayan president-elect Yamandú Orsi visited his mentor, former head of state José ‘Pepe’ Mujica, this week as he began preparing his new government. 

The encounter took place on Monday, a day after Orsi’s victory in last Sunday’s run-off election, which marks the return of the left to power after five years of centre-right government in the small nation.

“One must be grateful,” the president-elect said at a press conference after meeting with Mujica.

The former president, 89 years old and recovering from oesophageal cancer, campaigned for Orsi, his protégé, following an inconclusive first-round vote on October 27. 

Orsi spent around two hours conversing with the former guerrilla fighter, who served as president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, as well as with Mujica’s wife, Lucía Topolansky, a fellow former rebel who served as vice-president from 2017 to 2020.

“What these veterans have done is very important to me,” said Orsi after the meeting, which took place at the rural property where the couple live on the outskirts of Montevideo.

Mujica is viewed by analysts as the "chief strategist" behind Orsi’s campaign. 

The president-elect, a 57-year-old history professor who governed Canelones (the country’s second most populous department) for a decade, regards Mujica as a mentor.

“My recognition goes to Pepe and to Lucía,” Orsi said on Sunday after defeating the government’s candidate Álvaro Delgado by around 95,000 votes out of a population of 3.4 million.

On Monday, the Frente Amplio leader described his conversation with Mujica as one focused on “reflection” and “perspective.”

“Pepe speaks from his experience and subtly shares his thoughts; he has the wisdom not to offer things as advice,” Orsi noted, adding that Mujica had shared "phrases" that would “help a lot, a lot.”

Orsi, who has named Gabriel Oddone as his future economy minister, said that Mujica “never” tells him who should be in his cabinet, although he does suggest names.

“He tells me that I’m going to be president and that I have to decide,” the leftist leader asserted.

The Movimiento de Participación Popular, the largest sector of the Frente Amplio, in which Orsi has been involved since his youth, posted images of the visit on its X account, featuring the popular Uruguayan band NTVG singing “Volvé a tu casa cuando quieras.”

On his first day as president-elect, Orsi said visiting Mujica was an "obligation." 

He also took his 12-year-old twin children to the public school they attend in Salinas, a coastal town some 40 km east of Montevideo, where he lives with his family.

Orsi plans to continue living there after taking office.

 

Meeting with Lacalle Pou

Orsi will succeed President Luis Lacalle Pou on March 1. The incumbent was ineligible to run for re-election this year, as Uruguay’s Constitution prohibits immediate re-election.

Congratulating the winner on Sunday, Lacalle Pou offered to be “at his disposal” to “begin the transition as soon as [Orsi] deems it appropriate.”

“We need to agree on how we move forward from here until March,” Orsi said on Monday when asked about the upcoming meeting, which is expected to take place this week.

Lacalle Pou has called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday at 4pm local time. He will issue instructions that any new government projects must be discussed with the incoming administration.

At a press conference on Monday, Orsi added that Lacalle Pou had invited him to attend the 65th Mercosur summit, which Uruguay will host on December 5 and 6. Uruguay currently holds the pro-tempore presidency of the South American bloc.

The summit will bring together the presidents of the four founding countries of the Southern Common Market (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), as well as Bolivia, which was granted full membership in July.

“We need to position Mercosur where it belongs... because, in a world that is closing in and so unpredictable, the best thing is to strengthen ties with our neighbouring peoples,” said Orsi.

He also mentioned that his first trips abroad will be to Argentina and Brazil.

by Alina Dieste, AFP

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