The presidency of Yamandú Orsi began on March 1, 2025, when Yamandú Orsi was inaugurated as the 43rd president of Uruguay. Orsi, a member of the Movement of Popular Participation – Broad Front, took office following his victory over the National Party nominee Álvaro Delgado in the second round of the 2024 general election.
Background
Campaign and election
Orsi's candidacy for the Broad Front presidential primary for president of Uruguay in the 2024 election was made official on December 8, 2023, during the party congress. In late February 2024, he resigned as Intendant of Canelones. He won his party's primary with 59% of the vote, and announced Carolina Cosse as his running mate for the general election. He was opposed to the two constitutional referendums put to the electorate on changes to the social security system and on allowing nighttime police raids.
In the first round of the general election, the Orsi-Cosse ticket obtained 43.86% of the vote, securing a majority in the Senate. On November 17, Orsi participated in a presidential debate with the candidate of the National Party and Republican Coalition, Álvaro Delgado Ceretta. In the runoff of the election, Orsi won the presidency with 52.08%.
Transition period After the results were announced, outgoing President Luis Lacalle Pou congratulated Orsi on his victory and announced that he was available to begin the transition period. The day after the runoff, Orsi visited former President José Mujica and his wife, former Vice President Lucía Topolansky, at their private residence on the outskirts of Montevideo. After Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro congratulated Orsi, members of the Herrerism, a sector of the National Party, publicly asked him "not to invite dictators" to his inauguration.
On Wednesday, November 27, Orsi was received by outgoing President Lacalle Pou at the Executive Tower, which officially marked the beginning of the transition. The transition team chose the Hampton by Hilton hotel in Carrasco as the transition venue, where the president-elect held meetings with diplomats and politicians.
On November 28, Orsi traveled with Gabriel Oddone, Alejandro Sánchez and his foreign policy advisor to Brasília to meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. At the meeting, talks were initiated to accelerate the bidding processes for the Yaguarón bridge in Cerro Largo and the dredging of the São Gonçalo Channel that connects the Lagoon Mirim―shared by Brazil and Uruguay―with the Lagoa dos Patos, located in Brazilian territory. That day, the transition between the outgoing vice president Beatriz Argimón and the elected Carolina Cosse began.
On December 6, the Mercosur summit began in Montevideo, in which Orsi participated alongside outgoing President Lacalle Pou as his "guest". The final text of the EU–Mercosur Association Agreement was approved in the presence of the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, after almost 25 years of negotiations. Within the framework of this summit, Orsi held bilateral meetings with regional leaders who came to Montevideo, such as Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Bolivian President Luis Arce and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
Beginning in the second week of December, some cabinet members were announced. However, the formal announcement took place on the December 16, at the Raddison Victoria Plaza Hotel.
Cabinet Cabinet of Yamandú Orsi's GovernmentOfficeNamePolitical partyTermMinistry of National DefenseSandra LazoBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of the InteriorCarlos NegroBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Foreign RelationsMario LubetkinBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Economy and FinanceGabriel OddoneBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Education and CultureJosé Carlos MahíaBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Public HealthCristina LustembergBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Social DevelopmentGonzalo CivilaBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Labour and Social WelfareJuan CastilloBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Transport and Public WorksLucía EtcheverryBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and FisheriesAlfredo FrattiBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Industry, Energy and MiningFernanda CardonaBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of Housing and Territorial PlanningCecilia CairoBroad Front1 March 2025 – 18 April 2025Tamara PaseyroBroad Front21 April 2025 –Ministry of Justice and Human RightsBroad FrontTo be createdMinistry of TourismPablo MenoniBroad Front1 March 2025 – Ministry of EnvironmentEdgardo OrtuñoBroad Front1 March 2025 – Secretariat of Sports Alejandro Peredahttps://ladiaria.com.uy/politica/articulo/2025/2/daniel-radio-continuara-como-presidente-del-ircca-y-alejandra-collette-spinetti-sera-secretaria-de-derechos-humanos/Broad Front1 March 2025 – Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation Broad FrontTo be createdhttps://www.montevideo.com.uy/Noticias/Oddone-anuncio-creacion-de-Secretaria-de-Ciencia-Tecnologia-e-Innovacion-en-Presidencia-uc915471Secretariat of the PresidencyAlejandro SánchezBroad Front1 March 2025 – Deputy Secretariat of the Presidency Jorge Díaz AlmeidaBroad Front1 March 2025 – Office of Planning and Budget Rodrigo Arimhttps://ladiaria.com.uy/educacion/articulo/2024/12/rodrigo-arim-renuncia-al-rectorado-de-la-udelar-para-ser-el-nuevo-director-de-oppBroad Front1 March 2025 – Central Bank of Uruguay Guillermo Tolosahttps://ladiaria.com.uy/politica/articulo/2025/1/gabriel-oddone-anuncio-el-equipo-economico-del-gobierno-electo-asi-quedo-conformado-el-mef/Broad Front1 March 2025 –
Foreign policy
The foreign relations of Uruguay during the government of Yamandú Orsi began with his government on 1 March 2025. The foreign minister, officially Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, of the government of Yamandú Orsi is Mario Lubetkin.
Africa Angola Within the framework of the 17th BRICS Summit, held in Brazil, on Sunday 6 July 2025 President Yamandú Orsi held a bilateral meeting with the president of Angola and of the African Union, João Lourenço.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
During the government transition, on Saturday 25 January, president-elect Yamandú Orsi conveyed his condolences on social media to the families of the wounded Uruguayan soldiers and that of a soldier who had died while serving in the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ―MONUSCO― because of an attack by the rebel group M23 that occurred that same day. Because of this attack, the return of the contingent of 200 Uruguayan soldiers, initially planned for January, was delayed. In mid-June it was confirmed that they would arrive on the night of 3 July, although they ultimately did so the following day in a ceremony with the president of the Republic. That same day, another contingent of 200 Uruguayan soldiers departed as relief, which finally managed to enter the Congo from Uganda on Wednesday 6 August 2025 after delays caused by local clashes.
On 6 August, President Orsi received at the Executive Tower a DRC delegation headed by the African country's deputy prime minister, Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita. At the meeting, homage was paid to Uruguay's cooperation for peace in that country and President Orsi promised a visit to the country. Likewise, authorities from both delegations signed documents: a cooperation agreement and a memorandum of understanding on political consultations, signed by Foreign Minister Lubetkin and his counterpart Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner; a defense cooperation agreement; and a cultural cooperation agreement.
Egypt Within the framework of the 17th BRICS Summit, held in Brazil, on Sunday 6 July 2025 President Yamandú Orsi held a bilateral meeting with the prime minister of Egypt, Mostafa Madbouly.
South Africa Within the framework of the 17th BRICS Summit, held in Brazil in July 2025, in a meeting of the delegations of Uruguay and South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa invited the Uruguayan president to take part in the G20 Summit, to be held in November in that African country.
Americas Argentina On Saturday 1 March 2025, the day of Yamandú Orsi's inauguration, Argentine president Javier Milei did not travel to the inauguration of his Uruguayan counterpart because it coincided with the opening of the legislative sessions in Argentina. In early March, Diego Cánepa, prosecretary of the presidency of José Mujica between 2010 and 2015, was appointed ambassador to Argentina. On Thursday 27 March 2025, President Yamandú Orsi met with the governor of Entre Ríos, Rogelio Frigerio, where they agreed on the idea of preventing friction from escalating over the siting of a project to produce green hydrogen in the department of Paysandú, on the Uruguay River, as had happened decades earlier around the installation of pulp mills. On Monday 28 April, President Orsi received the credentials of the new Argentine ambassador to Uruguay, Alan Beraud. On Thursday 8 May, President Orsi attended the inauguration ceremony of the authorities of the Salto Grande Mixed Technical Commission.
On Monday 9 June, President Orsi and former presidents Lacalle Pou and Sanguinetti travelled to Buenos Aires to receive the Anne Frank Award for their commitment to democracy and peaceful coexistence. On Thursday 19 June, when the press asked him about the conviction of former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President Orsi said that "as a government, it is not a good thing for us to get involved in the affairs of other countries", unlike some Broad Front legislators who publicly stated that Uruguay should express itself against the corruption sentence handed down by the Argentine justice system against Fernández.
On Wednesday 2 July, Yamandú Orsi travelled to Argentina, after a state visit to Spain, to participate the following day in the 66th Summit of Mercosur presidents, held in Buenos Aires. That Wednesday, President Orsi received a doctor honoris causa award from the Universidad de Congreso, in Mendoza. The following day, the president took part in the Summit and defended the "deepening" of the bloc. That day he also held a brief bilateral meeting with Argentine president Javier Milei. Months later, one day after the midterm elections in Argentina, on Monday 27 before the Senate budget committee, Minister Gabriel Oddone valued President Milei's electoral victory for the stability it brings to markets, which in his opinion also benefits Uruguay.
On Monday 3 November, President Yamandú Orsi took part in the launch of Nodo Uruguay, an initiative of the Argentine civil association Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and the Commission for the Right to Identity, which promotes joint work between Uruguay and Argentina to find grandchildren born between 1975 and 1983, victims of the actions of the repressive forces during the civic-military dictatorship. On Wednesday 26 November, Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin met with his Argentine counterpart Pablo Quirno at the headquarters of the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry to analyze several issues, including the project to install a green hydrogen plant in Paysandú.
On Wednesday 21 January 2026, in a plenary session of the Río de la Plata Administrative Commission ―CARP― Argentina and Uruguay approved the specifications for the call for bids for the maintenance and improvements of the Martín García Channel. On Wednesday 4 February, President Orsi travelled to Argentina to attend an event organized by the Inter-American Council of Commerce and Production. On Wednesday 18 March, President Orsi spoke with the Argentine ambassador to Uruguay after criticism by the governor of Entre Ríos, Rogelio Frigerio, over the installation of a green hydrogen plant in Paysandú.
Bolivia