Newspapers in Uruguay
According to COMMIT4FITNESS.COM, Uruguay is a country located in South America. Newspaper distribution in Uruguay is the largest in Latin America (293 newspaper excl. Per 1,000 inv., 2000), but circulation figures are uncertain. Dominating among the country’s thirty daily newspapers is the Blancoparti affiliated El País, published in Montevideo (founded in 1918, edition: about 110,000 copies). The second largest is the independent evening newspaper El Díario (about 80,000 copies). The main body of the Colorado Party El Día, founded as early as 1886, was closed down in 1994. La República (about 50,000 ex.) Is somewhat more sensational; it is considered to be to the left of the center. Since the normalization of the political situation in 1985 there has been freedom of the press. Typical for Uruguay is a lively weekly and magazine press of high quality.
Radio and TV are mainly commercial with a large number of radio and TV channels; According to INTERNETSAILORS.COM, in Montevideo alone, there are some 40 radio stations and four national TV channels. In 1998, there were 21 TV stations outside Montevideo. There is also state-funded radio and TV. There are 603 radio and 530 TV receivers per 1,000 residents (2000).
Culture
According to CALCULATORINC, cultural life has a lot in common with that in Argentina and is characterized by European traditions. Of the original cultures, very little is preserved.
A central feature of both literature and music are songs created by herdsmen, gauchos, which facilitated the lonely life of the plains by singing about love and adventure. The music culture is akin to that in Argentina and encompasses a variety of song forms accompanied by guitar. According to NATUREGNOSIS.COM, some Uruguayans claim that tango was invented in Montevideo rather than Buenos Aires. In northern Uruguay, Brazilian influences are noticeable in the music.
Literature has a prominent place in cultural life and several writers from Uruguay have found a readership in Sweden. Among them are the poet Circe Maia (1932–) and Eduardo Galeano (1940–2015), with works such as Latin America’s open veins and the trilogy The Memory of the World.
2019
December
Record-breaking cocaine seizures
December 28
Military and Customs officials seize a total of six tons of cocaine, with an estimated value of over $ 1 billion. The drug was found partly in a cargo of soybean meal on the way to Togo in West Africa and partly on a ranch. The seizure is the largest so far in the country – twice the size of the previous record made in November and then a cargo on the way to Benin, also in West Africa, via the Canary Islands. Nearly one-third of the cocaine consumed in Europe is smuggled via Africa, and Uruguay appears to be increasingly along the smuggling routes.
November
Lacalle Pou wins the presidential election
November 24
Right-wing candidate Luis Lacalle Pou barely wins over left-wing Daniel Martínez in the second round of the presidential election. Lacalle Pou gets 50.8 percent of the vote compared to 49.2 percent for Martínez. Only 37,000 votes cast candidates apart. The election is so smooth that the electoral court carries out a review of 35,000 votes. On November 28, Martínez acknowledges defeat and congratulates Lacalle Pou on the victory. Two days later, the official result is presented.
October
The presidential election goes to the second round
October 27th
The ruling left-wing alliance Breda Front’s candidate Daniel Martínez gets the most votes in the first round of the presidential election, 40.7 percent, which is far from the 50 percent required for victory in the first round. In second place is Luis Lacalle Pou, the candidate of the Blancoparti, with 29.7 percent. Lacalle Pou receives support from other parties on the right before the decisive round on 24 November. Among those behind Lacalle Pou are the Colorado Party candidate Ernesto Talvi (who himself gets 12.8 percent in the first round), Cabildo Abiertos Guido Manini Ríos (11.3 percent), Edgardo Novick of the People’s Party (1.1 percent) and Independent Party’s Pablo Mieres (1.0 percent). In the contemporary congressional elections, the FA remains the largest party but loses its former majority. The party gets 42 out of 99 seats in the House of Representatives and 13 out of 30 electable seats in the Senate. The Blanco party gets 30/10, the Colorado party 13/4 and Cabildo Abierto 11/3, while three seats go to three small parties.
June
Primary elections before the presidential election
June 30th
When primary elections are held before this fall’s presidential election, the ruling Left Alliance Breda Front (FA) appoints former mayor of Montevideo Daniel Martínez as its candidate, with 42 percent of the vote. The Blanco Party appoints Senator Luis Lacalle Pou and the Colorado Party economist Ernesto Talvi as candidate, both with 54 percent of voters in each party. Lacalle Pou was also the candidate of the Blanoc Party in 2014 and was defeated in the second round of the FA’s Tabaré Vázquez. The election will be held on October 27, with a possible second round on November 24.
Mercosur concludes free trade agreement with EU
June 28
Uruguay and the other Mercosur countries reach a free trade agreement with the EU after 20 years of negotiations. However, in order to enter into force, the agreement must be approved by the European Parliament and all individual EU states, which can prove difficult due to increasing protectionism and opposition to free trade. The agreement is the second largest EU agreement, covering 780 million people and a quarter of the world’s GDP. Both environmental organizations and farmers in the EU are critical to the agreement.
April
The defense minister and the army chief kicked
April 1st
President Tabaré Vázquez dismisses Defense Minister Jorge Menéndez and Army Chief José González following harsh criticism of the government over testimony about the murder of a dissident during the military dictatorship. The Deputy Minister of Defense and two army generals may also go. The reason is that a convicted torturer before a secret military tribunal has admitted that he threw a murdered regime critic in a river in 1973. Critics believe that the information should have been forwarded to the ordinary judiciary so that a regular trial could be held – and the circumstances of the murder clear.
March
A new regional forum is formed
March 22
Uruguay participates in a meeting in Chile where eight other South American countries launch the new Regional Forum for South America’s Progress (Prosur) which is intended to replace Unasur. Prosecur will mainly support democracy and the market economy, it says. The initiative has been taken by the presidents of Chile and Colombia, and the other participating countries are Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru. In addition to Uruguay, representatives of the left-wing governments in Bolivia and Surinam are also participating, but none of the three countries does not join Prosur. Venezuela was not invited.
