News of uruguay

TRADE TENSIONS

Mercosur braces for change amid calls for new trade rules

18-01-2020 09:19 Regional trade bloc faces uncertain future, with Argentina now in the minority and Uruguay and Brazil seeking the right to secure trade deals outside the bloc’s remit

by Fermin Koop

Argentine exodus?

'Pepe' Mujica rejects Lacalle Pou's tax incentive for Argentines

17-01-2020 16:40 Former president rejects incoming leader's idea of tempting Argentines over the Río de la Plata and said efforts should focus instead on investing Uruguayan capital back into the country.

UNDER-23 TOURNAMENT

Top stars miss out on Olympic football qualifying tournament

16-01-2020 20:03 Tournament is not an official FIFA event, and so clubs have no obligation to make their players available.

DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Four arrested in US$1 billion-plus cocaine seizure in Uruguay

30-12-2019 13:27 Authorities found 5.9 tons of cocaine, 4.4 tons of which was packed into cargo containers in the South Atlantic port of Montevideo.

MERCOSUR SUMMIT

Tensions loom large at Macri's final Mercosur summit

05-12-2019 18:14 Macri bids farewell to Mercosur at summit in Brazil, with regional bloc reeling from US steel and aluminum tariffs and tensions between Bolsonaro and Alberto Fernández.

FUTURE OF MERCOSUR?

Changing Mercosur bloc meets in Brazil after US tariffs blow

05-12-2019 07:26 Focus of bloc's 55th summit – the last for President Mauricio Macri – looked set to be the arrival of Alberto Fernández in office. The Mercosur now has more immediate concerns: Donald Trump.

URUGUAYAN ELECTIONS

Uruguay swings to the right as Luis Lacalle Pou wins presidential race

30-11-2019 11:44 Frente Amplio’s Daniel Martínez gives up challenge after close-run election, bringing an end to 15 years of leftist rule.

URUGUAYAN ELECTIONS

Macri, Fernández seek 'excellent' relationship with Uruguay's next leader

29-11-2019 08:54 Alberto Fernández says relationship with conservative leader Luis Lacalle-Pou will be as good as if opponent Daniel Martínez had won election.

Uruguayan Elections

Lacalle Pou officially declared Uruguay's next president

28-11-2019 13:54 After an extremely close vote obliged the Electoral Court to execute an official recount, the conservative candidate emerges victorious by a narrow margin. His election marks a change in power and a shift to the right in Argentina's neighbouring country.

PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF

Uruguay awaits final vote count, with Lacalle Pou holding a thin lead

25-11-2019 12:47 Authorities will start an official count Tuesday that may not yield final results until November 29.

RUN-OFF IN URUGUAY

Uruguayan authorities hold off declaring winner after tight run-off

24-11-2019 23:35 Luis Lacalle Pou holds thin lead over Daniel Martínez of just over 30,000 votes, with more than 97% of all votes tallied. Officials say final result will be announced likely on "Thursday or Friday," given how tight the result is.

URUGUAYAN ELECTION

Another power shift looms in region as Uruguay votes

23-11-2019 13:04 Opposition candidate Lacalle Pou expected to defeat Frente Amplio’s Daniel Martínez in presidential run-off.

Interview

Daniel Chasquetti: 'There was a slow-motion coup d’état in Bolivia'

18-11-2019 15:27 Uruguayan political analyst says that, in Latin America, consensus breaks down when it comes to the rules of democracy.

by Leandro Dario

Neighbouring country

Fernández lends support to Martínez in Uruguay ahead of run-off

14-11-2019 19:17 The president-elect met with Uruguayan president, Tabaré Vázquez, in Montevideo. The two spoke about bilateral relations and recent events in Latin America.

Environmentalism

Greenpeace sends message to "looters of the sea" in Uruguay

01-11-2019 14:23 The environmentalist NGO blockaded South Korean industrial fishing vessels in the port of Montevideo as part of a campaign to denounce the practice worldwide.

URUGUAY ELECTION

Uruguay presidential election heads for run-off, Martínez wins first round

27-10-2019 22:01 Uruguay's presidential election concluded Sunday night without any candidate earning an outright majority of votes. Leading candidates Daniel Martínez of the Frente Amplio and Partido Nacional’s Luis Lacalle Pou will face off in a November 24 run-off.

URUGUAY ELECTIONS

Uruguay’s left-wing party faces its toughest election in 15 years

25-10-2019 21:17 Uruguayan national elections on October 27 are predicted to lead to a run-off between the leftist Broad Front, which has been in power since 2005, and the centre-right National Party.

INTERVIEW

Uruguayan frontrunner Martínez on Alberto Fernández and bilateral relations

25-10-2019 13:36 Frente Amplio candidate, who leads polls ahead of Uruguay's October 27 election, recently met with Alberto Fernández, who he calls a friend. "If we both win, we’ll look to work together," he says.

Arts

The dramatic transformation of Uruguay's National Ballet Company

18-10-2019 19:56 It's taken less than a decade for the company, known as El Sodre, to transform from a shoestring budget production into a world-class performance.

ELECTION 2019

Fernández, Martínez hail Argentina and Uruguay's 'indissoluble' bond

08-10-2019 09:45 Frente de Todos candidate declares he wants country to echo achievements of neighbouring country as he meets Frente Amplio presidential hopeful in Buenos Aires. Argentina and Uruguay will both hold general elections on October 27.

ART & CULTURE

Festival Internacional de Colonia expands for exciting second edition

05-10-2019 09:42 Internationally acclaimed Uruguayan pianist Enrique Graf returns with new line-up for second incarnation of festival. Get tickets to this cultural extravaganza soon – for it’s no longer a secret...

by Robert Cox

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

As Argentina struggles, Uruguay worries about its own economy

04-10-2019 07:00 With economic instability plaguing its neighbour across the River Plate, Uruguayans are wondering how keenly the downturn will be felt at home.

FIFA CORRUPTION SCANDAL

FIFA bans Uruguayan former vice-president for life for taking bribes

02-10-2019 13:42 FIFA says its ethics committee found Eugenio Figueredo guilty of taking bribes in 2004 and 2015 linked to commercial deals for South American competitions.

DEBT DEBATE

Alberto Fernández offers first real hint as to how he will deal with debt

28-09-2019 03:14 Frontrunner in October’s presidential vote hints at Uruguay-style solution to debt problem, adding that he expects a “serious and sensible” negotiation with creditors.

BLOOMBERG

Uruguayan beef battling to stay competitive amid crisis in Argentina

27-09-2019 09:33 Beef is Uruguay’s top export by value, with shipments rising six percent to US$1.27 billion through mid-September, although volumes have barely risen.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

Austria rejects EU-Mercosur trade deal over Amazon fires

19-09-2019 09:49 Key committee in Austrian Parliament rejects draft free-trade agreement between EU and Mercosur over concerns about fires in the Amazon.

'Braxit'?

A Latin American Brexit? Analysing Brazil’s threat on Mercosur

16-09-2019 07:30 Jair Bolsonaro has said Brazil could leave Mercosur if Argentina, the second-largest economy in the customs union, pivots to the left after presidential elections in October. But how feasible is such a break?

RUGBY WORLD CUP

'You have to dream big' – Pumas fly out to Japan ahead of Rugby World Cup

09-09-2019 13:46 Argentina head to the Rugby World Cup relying heavily on the tried and tested, with their squad made up almost entirely of the Jaguares side that reached the final of the southern hemisphere's Super Rugby tournament.

RUGBY WORLD CUP

Uruguay overcome odds to qualify for Rugby World Cup in Japan

09-09-2019 13:15 The rugby community is small in Uruguay, just 6,000 active players – children included – in the entire country of 3.4 million people. But somehow, Los Teros have qualified for the Rugby World Cup.

MERCOSUR

Norway says timing of EFTA-Mercosur pact 'awful'

27-08-2019 12:45 Norway, which is part of European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) grouping four non-EU members, on Tuesday regretted the "awful timing" of a trade pact with Mercosur, as fires rage in the Amazon.

TRADE DEALS

Mercosur reaches EFTA trade deal with European countries

23-08-2019 22:13 The agreement with the European Free Trade Association formed by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, comes two months after Mercosur sealed a landmark trade deal with the European Union.

DIAGNOSIS

Uruguay's President Tabaré Vázquez: I have lung cancer

21-08-2019 08:58 The president said he feels good and has not felt any symptoms related to the disease. His wife, María Auxiliadora Delgado, died three weeks ago.

DRUG SEIZURE

Germany seizes 4.5 tons of cocaine shipped from Uruguay, worth US$1.1 billion

02-08-2019 09:36 Germany's biggest single seizure of cocaine to date, taken from container that was en route from Montevideo to Antwerp, Belgium.

María Auxiliadora Delgado

Uruguayan First Lady María Auxiliadora Delgado dies aged 82

31-07-2019 14:03 María Auxiliadora Delgado and Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez had been married since 1964.

UPM

Finland's UPM to go ahead with US$3-billion pulp plant in Uruguay

23-07-2019 13:25 The firm claims that the investment in controversial plant will create thousands of jobs, but environmentalists are concerned about the plant’s effects on nearby river.

FREE-TRADE DEAL

EU slams 'misinformation' about Mercosur trade deal

15-07-2019 16:23 Accord has raised alarm in some European countries that the continent will be flooded with beef and other agricultural imports, subjecting domestic farmers to unfair competition and consumers to unsafe food.

BLOOMBERG

Latin America and free trade score a win with EU-Mercosur deal

09-07-2019 15:22 Who knew that even as China and the United States played chicken with international trade, 31 nations with a tenth of world population and a fourth of its wealth would agree to abide by global rules and swap goods freely across the Atlantic?

by Mac Margolis

HUMAN RIGHTS

Italy court sentences 24 people to life in jail for Operation Cóndor crimes

09-07-2019 13:53 Uruguayan government confirms Italian court has sentenced 24 people to life in prison for their involvement in human rights crimes committed during the "Operation Condor" offensive.

MASSIVE POWER CUT

Government blames firm's 'faulty reprogramming' for June 16 black-out

04-07-2019 18:27 "The Argentine electrical system is robust, [but] a chain of failures led to collapse," Lopetegui said as he faced questioning over the unprecedented shutdown.

Organised Crime

Italian mobster Rocco Morabito escapes from Uruguayan prison

24-06-2019 18:12 The organised crime boss, who, along with three other inmates, escaped through the roof, was awaiting extradition to Italy.

CRIME & REHABILITATION

Uruguay prison turns inmates into entrepreneurs

22-06-2019 08:30 Punta de Rieles is an exception, not only in Uruguay but in Latin America, where penitentiary systems are synonymous with inhumane treatment, inhospitable conditions and very high recidivism rates.

Still no answers

Macri official insists: 'No chance of repeat blackout'

18-06-2019 14:07 Parts of Uruguay, all provinces in Argentina expect Tierra del Fuego and parts of Brazil were affected by Sunday's blackout.

FLOODING

Over 3,000 people evacuated in Uruguay and Entre Río province

18-06-2019 14:03 Widespread flooding in the region forces hundreds of families from their homes just days after historic blackout.

Nationwide power outage

Macri gov't officials left scratching heads after historic blackout

17-06-2019 09:42 Energy Secretary Gusavo Lopetegui: 'We still have no information about what happened'.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

EU tells Macri, Bolsonaro: There's still work left to do on Mercosur trade deal

07-06-2019 10:19 EU officials brush off suggestions from presidents of Argentina and Brazil that a sweeping free-trade deal with the European bloc is close to being signed.

BLOOMBERG

Alberto Fernández tells markets he won't lead Argentina into default

04-06-2019 12:58 Seeking to reassure investors, presidential hopeful tells reporters he won’t lead the country into default if he wins the presidential election in October.

TORRENTIAL FLOODING

Devastating floods to shave up to US$2 billion off GDP

17-01-2019 18:30 Heavy rains could keep coming for weeks, with thousands having already been displaced by devastating flooding.

NEW ARTS FESTIVAL

Colonia del Sacramento draws emerging and established talent for new festival

02-11-2018 10:50 Names both new and old – from Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Uruguay – will be performing next weekend in Uruguay's famous cobble-stoned city.

by Holly Stanley

EUROPEAN EUPHORIA

South American sorrow as Brazil and Uruguay crash out of World Cup

07-07-2018 08:19 Belgium and France progress to semi-finals, two from Croatia, England, Russia and Sweden will join them in last four.

STATE CONTROL

54% of marijuana users in Uruguay use legal system to get drug

05-05-2018 12:29 Almost 24,000 people are registered to buy the drug in Uruguay, but the report concluded that far more people than those registered consume marijuana.