Orsi, Uruguay's president-elect, visits mentor Mujica after run-off win

Uruguayan president-elect Yamandú Orsi visited his mentor, ex-president José ‘Pepe’ Mujica, this week as he began preparing his new government.

The visit took place Monday, a day after his victory in last Sunday’s run-off, which marks the return of the left to power after five years of centre-right government.

“One must be grateful,” the president said at a press conference after meeting Mujica. 

The former president, 89 years old and is recovering from oesophageal cancer, campaigned for his protégé following the first round vote on October 27.

Orsi spent around two hours conversing with the former guerrilla, who served as president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, and Mujica’s wife, Lucía Topolansky, a fellow former rebel fighting like him who served as vice-president from 2017 to 2020.

“What these veterans have done is very important to me,” said Orsi after the meeting at the rural property where the couple live on the outskirts of Montevideo.

Mujica is seen by analysts as the “chief strategist” of Orsi’s campaign.

The president-elect, a 57-year-old history professor who governed Canelones, the country’s second most populous department, for a decade, sees Mujica as a mentor.

“My recognition goes to Pepe and to Lucía,” said Orsi on Sunday after defeating the government’s candidate Álvaro Delgado by some 95,000 votes out of a population of 3.4 million.

On Monday, the Frente Amplio leader said that his conversation with Mujica was about “reflection” and “perspective.” 

“Pepe speaks from his experience and subtly shares his thoughts; he has the wisdom not to offer things as advice,” Orsi noted, adding that he had shared “phrases” that would “help a lot, a lot.”

Orsi, who has announced Gabriel Oddone as his future economy minister, said that Mujica “never” tells him who should be in his cabinet, although he does suggest names. 

“He tells me that I’m going to be president and that I have to decide,” the leftist asserted.

The Movimiento de Participación Popular, the largest sector of the Frente Amplio, in which Orsi has been involved since his youth, posted images of the visit on its X account, featuring the popular Uruguayan band NTVG singing “Volvé a tu casa cuando quieras.”

On his first day as president-elect, Orsi – who has been involved with the Movimiento de Participación Popular, the largest sector of the Frente Amplio, since his youth – said visiting Mujica was an “obligation.”

He also took his 12-year-old twin children to the public school they attend in Salinas, a coastal town some 40 km east of Montevideo, where he lives with his family and where he said he will continue to live after taking office.

Meeting with Lacalle Pou

Orsi will succeed President Luis Lacalle Pou on March 1. He was ineligible to run in this year’s election as Uruguay’s Constitution prohibits immediate re-election.

Congratulating the winner on Sunday, Lacalle Pou offered to be “at his disposal” to “begin the transition as soon as [he] deems it appropriate.”

“We need to agree on how we move forward from here until March,” Orsi said on Monday, when asked about the upcoming meeting, which is expected to take place this week.

Lacalle Pou has called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday at 4pm local time. He will issue instructions that any new government projects must be discussed with the incoming administration.

At a press conference on Monday, Orsi added that Lacalle Pou had invited him to attend the 65th Mercosur summit, which Uruguay will host on December 5 and 6. It currently holds the pro-tempore presidency of the South American bloc.

The summit will bring together the presidents of the four founding countries of the Southern Common Market in 1991 (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), as well as Bolivia, which was granted full membership in July.

“We need to position Mercosur where it belongs... because, in a world that is closing in and so unpredictable, the best thing is to strengthen ties with our neighbouring peoples,” said Orsi.

He also mentioned that his first trips abroad will be to Argentina and Brazil.