Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou Pledges Unrelenting Government in Uruguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Sunday, March 1st, at 4:30 PM, after being handed the presidential sash by Tabaré Vázquez, Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, 46 years old, formally took office as president of Uruguay.

In a speech in Independence Square before thousands of Uruguayans, Lacalle Pou said, moved, that he will conduct a unrelenting government and thanked the presidents of other nations for their presence at the inauguration ceremony.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was present at the ceremony, which was attended by other authorities, including the King of Spain, Felipe VI, and the presidents of Chile, Sebastián Piñera; of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez; and of Colombia, Iván Duque.

On Sunday night, Bolsonaro attended a dinner hosted by the Brazilian Ambassador to Uruguay, Antonio Simões. From there, Bolsonaro returned to Brazil.

During the inauguration ceremony, at around 5 PM, the new government ministers were formally sworn in.

The Minister of the Interior, Jorge Larrañaga; the Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche; the Ministers of National Defense, Javier García; of Education and Culture, Pablo Da Silveira; of Transport and Public Works, Luis Alberto Heber; of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganini; Labor and Social Welfare, Pablo Mieres; Public Health, Daniel Salinas; Agriculture and Fisheries, Carlos María Uriarte; Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Talvi; Tourism, Germán Cardozo; Minister of Territorial Planning and Environment, Irene Moreira; and Minister of Social Development, Pablo Bartol took office.

Lacalle Pou, who won the elections in the second round, after having built a five-party coalition, stressed the importance of the support he received from his allies.

After the event in Independence Square, Lacalle and his wife, Lorena Ponce de León, headed to Estevez Palace, where the new president was welcomed by the heads of foreign delegations.

In the streets of the capital, Montevideo, throughout Sunday, thousands of people gathered with flags of Uruguay and the National Party, to celebrate the victory of the new president, which represents a change in power, after 15 years of left-wing Broad Front coalition governments.

Source: Agência Brasil

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