Uruguay's 2024 Runoff: Comparing Yamandú Orsi and Álvaro Delgado

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Yamandú Orsi

Yamandú Ramón Antonio Orsi Martínez, 57, was born into a rural, working-class family in the department of Canelones. He became interested in leftist politics as a teenager, around the time that Uruguay was transitioning out of its civic-military dictatorship (1973–1985) and joined a political group within the Broad Front coalition founded by ex-guerilla fighters, including former President José “Pepe” Mujica (2010–2015). 

After years as a high school history teacher, Orsi kickstarted his political career in 2005 as the secretary general of his departmental government. He then went on to serve two terms as the mayor of Canelones (2015–2020, 2020–2024), Uruguay’s second-most populous department.

Orsi is viewed as the successor of Mujica’s legacy within the Broad Front. He has branded himself as representing a “modern left” willing to cooperate with the private sector and work across the aisle.

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Álvaro Delgado

Álvaro Luis Delgado Ceretta, 55, is the son of an accountant and a pharmaceutical chemist. He attended bilingual private schools in the country’s capital before studying to become a veterinarian at university. His first foray into politics was the university student guild, an organization with links to the National Party. After graduation, he worked as an agricultural producer and veterinary advisor while occupying administrative roles within the National Party.

His first post in national government was as the inspector general of labor (2000–2004). He then represented Montevideo for two consecutive terms in the lower house of Uruguay’s parliament (2005–2010, 2010–2015) and later won a seat in the Senate (2015–2020).

In 2020, President Luis Lacalle Pou tapped Delgado to serve as his chief of cabinet, which saw him manage the country’s COVID-19 response. Delgado has asked voters to “re-elect a good government,” seeking to capitalize on Lacalle Pou’s favorable approval rating of 50 percent, per an October survey.

Insecurity ranked as the top voter concern in this election cycle, and both Orsi and Delgado have put forward plans to reinforce the country’s security apparatus with additional police officers, more surveillance equipment, and increased coordination among state agencies, while improving rehabilitation and reinsertion programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons. They have also both proposed the creation of a justice and human rights ministry.

However, Orsi’s proposals emphasize a holistic, community-based approach to crime prevention that seeks to address the social factors of criminal involvement. The program put forward by Delgado’s Republican Coalition, meanwhile, mentions more severe punishment for gang membership, including solitary confinement, and the construction of a maximum security prison.

In their respective manifestos, both Orsi and Delgado have spotlighted agriculture and the information and communications technology sector as priorities for boosting economic growth. Both have also put forward plans to reduce red tape and operation costs for micro-, small, and medium-sized companies, which make up over 99 percent of Uruguayan businesses.

Despite Uruguay’s widening fiscal deficit, both candidates have said they do not plan to raise taxes. Delgado, however, has proposed cutting public expenditure by combining state entities with similar functions and laying off 15,000 state employees within five years. Orsi has said he does not view it necessary to reduce the number of persons employed by the state. He instead plans to incentivize multinational companies to pay a greater portion of their corporate tax in Uruguay. 

Orsi’s pick for economy minister is Gabriel Oddone, an economist with decades of private sector experience who has also served as a consultant for various multilateral institutions in the Americas. Oddone has promised to continue with much of the current administration’s fiscal policies and has set a target of a 2 percent fiscal surplus by the end of Orsi’s term.

Delgado has selected Diego Labat, who resigned from his post as head of the Central Bank in July to support the campaign. Labat has ambitions of an annual growth rate of up to 3.5 percent to help achieve Delgado’s campaign promise of making Uruguay Latin America’s “most developed economy” by 2030.

On the same day of the election’s first round, voters rejected a controversial plebiscite that proposed an overhaul to the country’s pension system. Despite the referendum’s failure, Orsi has indicated a desire to review the role of private pension fund managers in the country’s pension system. Delgado has ruled out any changes and criticized Orsi for a lack of clarity on his proposed review of the system.

Childhood poverty has been another pressing concern for Uruguay, where one in five children live under the poverty line, according to UNICEF. Both candidates have plans to expand Bono Crianza, a welfare program introduced in 2022 that provides monthly grants to low-income households with children three years old and under. Delgado has proposed extending coverage to the first six years of a child’s life, while Orsi has suggested increasing the grant by 50 percent.

Neither candidate has proposed any significant departure from Uruguay’s commitment to promoting human rights and liberal democracy in the region. During the first round campaign, however, Orsi’s political opponents criticized him for not dismissing the possibility of inviting Nicolás Maduro to his inauguration and being slow to criticize the Venezuelan leader. He did eventually refer to Maduro’s administration as an “authoritarian regime.” On November 11, Delgado announced on the social media platform X that he had met virtually with Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, and affirmed his intention to invite the latter to his inauguration, should he be elected.

On matters of trade, one major difference between Orsi and Delgado is their stance on Uruguay’s dynamic within Mercosur, the five-member trading bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Delgado has vowed to continue the incumbent government’s push for greater flexibility that would permit Uruguay to pursue free trade deals independently of the group. Other Mercosur leaders have called out the Lacalle Pou administration’s attempts at bilateral negotiations with China and its application to the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership as violating the bloc’s rules. In contrast, Orsi is a proponent of Mercosur’s joint negotiation mechanism, a foundational pillar of the bloc.

Should Delgado win the runoff on November 24, he will be the first president in Uruguay’s modern democratic era to govern not only without a majority in either parliamentary chamber but with the opposition in control of one. Although neither coalition has an absolute majority in the lower house, the Broad Front won 16 of 30 seats in the Chamber of Senators. Orsi has argued that this places him in a better position to lead the government.

Still, how are the campaigns proposing to work with a split parliament?

Both candidates have been competing to prove a track record of dialogue and negotiation that would help stave off any significant impasse between the executive and legislative powers. Orsi points to his time as mayor of Canelones, where he claims he was able to attract support across departmental political lines. Supporters of Delgado highlight his role in keeping the parties of the Republican Coalition together and his experience working in the national government.