Luis Lacalle Pou

On 30 March 2014, Lacalle Pou launched his bid for the presidency.[17] On 1 June 2014 he was nominated as candidate of his party for the presidential elections in October, in which he was elected Senator of the Republic.[18] He was defeated on the second round of presidential election on 30 November 2014.

In the 2019 presidential primaries, Lacalle Pou competed against Enrique Antía, Carlos Iafigliola, Jorge Larrañaga and the new candidate Juan Sartori. Lacalle Pou won by 53% of the votes, enough to announce Beatriz Argimón the same night of 30 June as a vice president candidate.[19]

In the first round of the 2019 general election, held on Sunday, 27 October 2019, he obtained second place with 28.62% of the votes. As no presidential candidate received a majority of voting, a runoff election took place on 24 November.[20] In the runoff, Luis Lacalle Pou garnered 48.71% of the unofficial vote. His opponent, Broad Front candidate and former intendant of Montevideo, Daniel Martínez obtained 47.51% of the vote. The Electoral Court of Uruguay published the official results Friday, 29 November 2019, as observed votes were still to be counted, totaling more than the difference between the two candidates, thus the difference being too close to do so. Daniel Martinez did not concede the results yet, awaiting the official count. Lacalle Pou unofficially declared himself the winner, as the votes already counted marked an irreversible trend. Martínez conceded defeat on 28 November 2019. On 30 November, final votes counts confirmed Lacalle Pou as the winner with 48.8% of the total votes cast over Martínez with 47.3%.[21] He was the first National/Blanco candidate to win the presidency since his father left office in 1995. His election also marked only the fourth time in 154 years that the Blancos had been elected to lead the government.

Lacalle took office on 1 March 2020. After the constitutional oath before the General Assembly, he paraded down with Vice President Beatriz Argimón along Libertador Avenue in a 1937 Ford V8 convertible that belonged to his great-grandfather, Luis Alberto de Herrera.[22] The parade ended in Plaza Independencia, where he received the presidential sash from the outgoing President Tabaré Vázquez.

With a coalition of five parties, ranging from the centre-left to the hard right, he intends to pursue a policy of austerity. During his campaign, he promised to cut government spending in order to reduce the public deficit. Claiming to be a liberal, he declared that he wanted to favour business leaders in the face of "tax pressure".[23] He proposed before his inauguration to establish an attractive tax policy to attract wealthy foreigners. The left-wing party Frente Amplio deplores initiatives that could lead to a "setback" for the country, which risks becoming a "tax haven" again, as it was in the past.[24]

Lacalle had announced during his electoral campaign the introduction of a package of government measures through an urgent consideration law, a prerogative of the Executive Power in Uruguay that allows it to send to the General Assembly a bill with a peremptory term of 90 days, expired which is approved in the affirmative form if the General Assembly is not issued to the contrary.[25] The 2020 coronavirus pandemic delayed the presentation of the bill, which finally formally entered the Parliament on 23 April 2020.[26]

Lacalle announced his cabinet on 16 December 2019, which is formed by an electoral alliance, the Coalición Multicolor, which is made up of the National Party, the Colorado Party, Open Cabildo, the Independent Party and the Party of the People.[27] He declared that it was going to be a "government of action",[28] and that he wanted to form a "government that talks a lot with the people".[29]

President Lacalle Pou with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

During Lacalle Pou's first days of presidency, Uruguay's foreign relations shifted substantially from those under Broad Front. After taking office, he condemned the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.[30] And also Lacalle decided not to invite him to his inauguration stating "it is a personal decision, which I take care of. This is not the Chancellery, this is not protocol, this is my person who made this decision".[31] The presidents of Cuba and Nicaragua were not invited either.[32] However, the Lacalle government refused to recognize Guaidó as legitimate President of Venezuela and instead recognized him as President of the National Assembly stating that recognizing Guaidó at the same time that Maduro is in power is a "step that for now we cannot take."[33] In January 2021, the Lacalle government refused to recognize the new National Assembly, and stated that the Maduro's "dictatorial regime" violates the "rule of law."[34]

Lacalle's government ordered the withdrawal of Uruguay from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), arguing that it occurred because "it is an organization that became an ideological political alliance contrary to the country's objectives of linking."[35] In addition, it was reported that the country would return to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR)[36] and that the government would support Luis Almagro in a re-election to the post of president of the Organization of American States.[35] Lacalle has been in favor of a flexibilization of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) rules, such as the common external fees. He has also proposed to deepen the free trade zone.[37][38]

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged within the first days of Lacalle Pou's presidency. The first four cases, all imported, were reported on 13 March. On 14 March, Lacalle requested the cancellation of public performances, and the closure of some public places. An awareness campaign was launched and citizens were advised to stay home. A two-week suspension of classes at public and private schools was also announced.[39] On 16 March, Lacalle issued an order to close all border crossings except Carrasco International Airport.[40] The border with Argentina was closed effective 17 March at midnight.[41]

Lacalle refused to implement the lockdown, appealing for "individual freedom".[42][43] On April, 17 he informed that his administration decided to create a group, made up of experts that would define methods and studies to advise the government. The experts would be: the mathematician, electrical engineer, and academic from the Latin American Academy of Sciences, Fernando Paganini; Dr. Rafael Radi, the first Uruguayan scientist at the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and president of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay; and Dr. Henry Cohen, President of the National Academy of Medicine and awarded as a Master by the World Gastroenterology Organisation in 2019.[44] The group disbanded after 14 months.[45]

At the beginning, its measures were praised, when the country was facing a relative control of the situation and a low number of cases per day. By the beginning of 2021, infections started to increase to almost 8,000 cases per day, until the end of July when it started to decrease again. In January 2022, daily cases peaked at 14,000 cases per day for four months before declining.[46]

In April 2020, the Lacalle administration presented a bill "of urgent consideration" –power of the Executive Branch of the Government according to Article 168 of the Constitution.[47] It contained modifications in different areas, such as the economy, public safety, education, and work.[48] It was approved in both the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, and signed into law on 9 July 2020.[49] Opposition to the law consisted of the national trade union center PIT-CNT and the opposition party Broad Front, which launched a campaign to collect signatures to file a referendum appeal on 135 articles of the law.[50] Finally, a referendum was held on 27 March 2022, in which the option not to repeal 135 articles of said law was imposed with 50% of the votes, compared to the option in favor of repealing with 48%.[51][52]

The government's plan to privatize public companies such as the telecommunications company ANTEL, the port of Montevideo and the national oil company ANCAP, led to large-scale demonstrations on 15 September 2021, in a well-attended 24-hour general strike called by the trade union movement. The strikers and demonstrators also want the government to take measures to fight unemployment and increase low wages.

The government is planning a reformation in the public retirement system due to the concern of aging population, by raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 years old.[53]

Lacalle Pou married Lorena Ponce de León in 2000, in a service conducted by Daniel Sturla in the Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral.[54] Together, they have three children: Luis Alberto, Violeta and Manuel. In May 2022 the couple announced problems in their relationship and separated.[55]

Lacalle Pou is a surfing enthusiast, and has been practicing this sport since the 1980s.[56]

He is also known to be passionate about rugby union and is a follower of Old Boys (the alumni team of his former school) as well as Los Teros, and has been seen wearing the national team tie at public functions.[57]