Luis Lacalle Pou took office in Uruguay on Sunday, promising to crack down on crime and tighten government finances.
Lacalle Pou, a 46-year-old surfing enthusiast and son of a former president, narrowly won election in November last year in his second try for the office.
He was sworn in by former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica, the senator who received the most votes in the elections.
Photo: AFP
Lacalle Pou inherits a country of nearly 3.4 million people that had grown steadily under the outgoing Broad Front government, but rising crime in recent years dented its popularity and economists have grown concerned about a rising fiscal deficit that reached 4.9 percent of GDP last year.
In his inaugural address, the new leader promised “to promote what was done well [and] correct what was done badly.”
Lacalle Pou, who has promised to cap government spending, said he wanted reduce the costs of production and services “to recover national competitiveness.”
The country faces “an emergency” of insecurity, he said, adding that “the enormous majority of Uruguayans feel unprotected.”
He campaigned on calls to bolster the country’s security forces and toughen sentencing.
“In the interior of the country we used to sleep with the door open... Even vehicles were left with doors and windows open and the key in the ignition, but lately the houses are all fenced,” said Natalia Cardozo, a 37-year-old teacher who was participating on horseback in the inaugural day parade. “We hope that this government takes some measures and can change that.”
Lacalle Pou, who spent many years in the Uruguayan Congress, grew up in an intensely political family. His father, Luis Lacalle Herrera, was president from 1990 to 1995 and his mother, Julia Pou, was a senator. His great-grandfather Luis Alberto de Herrera was a major figure in the National Party.
He will have to depend on an ideologically diverse four-party coalition to get his programs through Congress.
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