Luis Lacalle Pou
| Luis Lacalle Pou | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 From: March 1, 2020 | |||
| Predecessor | Tabaré Vázquez | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| President pro tempore of Mercosur From: 2 July 2 2020 – 16 December 2020 | |||
| Predecessor | Mario Abdo Benítez | ||
| Successor | Alberto Fernández | ||
From: 15 February 2015 – 12 August 2019 | |||
| Predecessor | - | ||
| Successor | - | ||
From: 1 March 2011 – 1 March 2012 | |||
| Predecessor | Ivonne Passada | ||
| Successor | Jorge Orrico | ||
From: 15 February 2000 – 15 February 2015 | |||
| Predecessor | - | ||
| Successor | - | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | National Party | ||
| Spouse(s) | Lorena Ponce de León | ||
| Religion | Catholic | ||
Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou (born 11 August 1973, Montevideo) is a lawyer who is the President of Uruguay since March 2020.
He is a conservative who supports free markets and wants Uruguay to have free trade agreements with the World. He opposes the legalization and selling of drugs by the state done by previous leftist administrations. He also is a critic from the sindicalist mafias.[1]
Biography
Son of Senator Julia Pou and the former President of the Republic, between 1990 and 1995, Luis Alberto Lacalle.
He studied at The British Schools of Montevideo. In 1998 he received his law degree from the Universidad Católica del Uruguay.
Married to Lorena Ponce de León, with whom he had three children: Luis Alberto, Violeta and Manuel.
In May 2022, the couple announced their separation.[2]
Political Career
Elected deputy of the Republic in the 1999 elections for the department of Canelones, being re-elected for the following period 2005-2010 for Herrerismo, a movement of a sector of the National Party, which was initiated by his great-grandfather, Luis Alberto de Herrera.
Since 2011, he has presided over the House of Representatives of Uruguay.
In 2013, he was pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic for the sector "Todos Hacia Adelante", a group integrated by sectors of the National Party.
Officially pre-candidate since March 30, 2014, he disputed the internal elections in June, winning with 54.3% against Jorge Larrañaga.
Presidential candidate for the National Party in the national elections on October 26, 2014, he lost in the second round by 13 points to Tabaré Vázquez.
He held the position of Senator of the Republic from 2015 to 2019.
In the internal elections of 2019, he competes with Jorge Larrañaga, Juan Sartori, Enrique Antía and Carlos Iafigliola, winning with 53% of the votes on the night of June 30 presenting Beatriz Argimón as vice presidential candidate.
In the first round of the presidential elections of October 27, 2019, he won second place with about 29% of the votes.
On November 24, 2019, he faced Daniel Martinez Villamil in the second electoral round, obtaining a slight advantage over her opponent. The Electoral Court recount gave the minimal victory to Luis Lacalle Pou. With the victory of the conservative coalition, which brings together several parties, 15 years of government of the leftist Frente Amplio come to an end.
Presidency
President Lacalle Pou promotes Free Trade Agreements for Uruguay, he said: "We are talking to U.S. officials. We are meeting with one on Thursday (May 26) in my country and I think we are trying to be much more open-minded with them. And we are not willing to move quickly towards NAFTA.
I'm not in love with FTAs. We want to sell our products, our services and our intellectual creations. That's what we want. And so far, this Biden administration has not looked at our country.
We are trying to change some things. I don't believe in states growing and selling marijuana. I believe in individuals, cannabis clubs or whatever we have, producing their own marijuana and being able to have their own marijuana consumption circles and not the state."
During the Administration, all other crimes, except homicides, decreased.
