Uruguay Elects Leftist Yamandú Orsi President
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Uruguay's Left Returns to Power as Orsi Wins Runoff
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Above: Uruguay's Pres.-elect Yamandú Orsi and his running mate Carolina Cosse after the presidential runoff on Nov. 24, 2024 in Montevideo. Image copyright: Guillermo Legaria/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Uruguay's left-wing Broad Front alliance, which ruled the country for 15 years from 2005 to 2020, will return to power on March 1, 2025, after its presidential candidate Yamandú Orsi won a runoff election on Sunday.
Considered a political heir to former president and leftist icon José "Pepe" Mujica, Orsi secured 49.8% of the vote to defeat Álvaro Delgado of the National Party — part of outgoing Pres. Luis Lacalle Pou's conservative Republican Coalition.
The Spin
Left narrative
After five years of conservative rule, voters have decided to bring the left-wing Broad Front back to power amid perceived economic stagnation. This outcome is even more remarkable against the backdrop of a populist trend that, in the past year, has seen Javier Milei elected in neighboring Argentina and Donald Trump elected in the US.
Right narrative
As Uruguayans headed to polls to cast a vote for the next president of the country, they were also deciding which path the nation would take in the coming years — that of stability, security, and fiscal responsibility, or that of populist promises and soft-on-crime policies. Sadly, the country ended up choosing the latter.
