Uruguay has a dearth of hydrocarbon resources and is vulnerable to energy shortages. To reduce reliance on foreign energy imports, Uruguay is implementing a plan to ensure long-term energy security based on renewable energy sources. Uruguay’s neighbors should follow its lead in implementing sustainable energy plans to meet future needs. The weighty challenge the Uruguayan government faces in securing sufficient energy supplies was brought into stark relief as a dispute began in July 2011...
Uruguayan Amnesty Law: A Bitter Lesson in Forgiving Minutes before an initiative that would annul Articles 1, 3, and 4 of the Law of Expiration of 1986 was put to a vote in the Uruguayan Chamber of Representatives, Victor Semproni, a dissident representative of the left-of-center Frente Amplio (Broad Front), announced that he would break ranks and vote against the initiative, thereby nullifying his party’s long-held position. Because the Senate already had passed the...
• Venezuela and Nicaragua recognize breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia • Taiwan and Kosovo, recognized by a number of Latin American states more likely due to national economic interest rather than abstract concepts of goodwill and friendship • Recognition of Palestine seen as latest example of Latin American divergence from U.S. influence In 2008, Russia fought a five-day war with Georgia, an independent nation in the southern Caucasus, which gained its independence following the...
• Mujica to elevate foreign policy as main driver of his presidency • Big domestic areas have been dealt with by Vázquez and now Mujica On March 1st, José “Pepe” Mujica, former guerilla and today social democrat and leader of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front-FA) political coalition, was inaugurated as President of Uruguay. The 74-year-old former Agriculture Minister triumphed in last November’s election with 52 % of the vote. The previous president and moderate...
On November 29, 2009, José “Pepé” Mujica of the left-center coalition, Frente Amplio (Broad Front-FA), won the run-off election in Uruguay with 53.2% of the vote compared to the 42.7% of his opponent, former president Luis Alberto Lacalle. Mujica’s win represents a consolidation of power for the FA, as the incumbent Tabaré Vázquez was not only the coalition’s first elected president, but also the first left-leaning leader since before the era of military rule,...
