Montevideo, Uruguay
Voters in Uruguay this week elected the first left-wing president in their country’s 170-year history. Dr. Tabare Vazquez, in his third bid for the presidency, won a fraction more than 50 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff with his closest rival, a centrist who captured 34 percent. Many South Americans have soured on the free-market economic reforms the U.S. has encouraged in the region, blaming them for rising poverty and unemployment. Prior to the Uruguay vote, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela elected candidates promising to focus on social programs for the poor. “Hopefully our message has been heard,” one voter said. “We want change.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
-
Nuclear near-missesThe Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?The Explainer The future is flooded
