Uruguay’s President replaces Minister of Livestock and Agriculture

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Current National Meat Institute (INAC) president Fernando Mattos will replace Carlos María Uriarte as Uruguay’s Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), President Luis Lacalle Pou announced Sunday, June 28, .

“In agreement with the Colorado party we are to appoint Fernando Mattos as the new Minister of MGAP. We trust in his professional and personal capacity to share the present and future challenges of the sector. My recognition to Carlos M. Uriarte for his warmth and commitment,” wrote the president on Twitter.

This appointment completes the 5th change in Lacalle Pou’s cabinet since he took office on March 1, 2020.

The first change in the Executive took place only 4 months into his term, after then Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi resigned halfway into the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) summit, in which Uruguay began its 6-month pro tempore presidency. He was replaced by Francisco Bustillo, until then Uruguay’s ambassador to Spain and a personal friend of Lacalle Pou, in addition to being a career diplomat.

The second case ocurred at the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES). On May 3, 2021, Martín Lema assumed his position at the head of that portfolio, 2 days after the president announced – also on Twitter- the departure of Pablo Bartol, who had been at the helm since March 1, 2020.

Twenty-one days later, Luis Alberto Heber, who until then served as head of the Transportation and Public Works portfolio, was appointed Minister of the Interior following the sudden death of Jorge Larrañaga on May 22. In the meantime, José Luis Falero, who until then was the Deputy Director of the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP), assumed the place vacated by Heber.

On the other hand, and without being a real cabinet change, in July 2020, as a result of the implementation of the Urgent Consideration Law (LUC), the Uruguayan President’s star project, the Ministry of the Environment was created, headed by Adrián Peña.