Uruguay dawned today with a new direction signalled by the electoral victory of the opposition Frente Amplio, which has Yamandú Orsi as its president-elect.

It is a celebratory hangover for the left-wing alliance, which at the end of a long campaign managed to return to government as of the first day of March 2025.

With 96 per cent of the ballots counted, Orsi received 49.8 per cent of the votes and his rival, the pro-government Álvaro Delgado, who proclaimed himself the continuation of the government of President Luis Lacalle Pou, received 45.92 per cent of the ballots, with a difference of around 89,000 votes.

In his victory speech, Orsi told thousands of pro-Alemán supporters that he would govern for everyone and would be open to listening to those who lost the previous day’s vote.

There will be no place for grievance or disqualification, the country of solidarity and respect for others will triumph, he said in an inclusive message.

There is another part of our people who have other feelings, we also need them to build a better country, Orsi invited.

No one can be left behind economically, socially and politically, he said.

I will also be the president of the country of national growth, he said towards the productive sectors.

For her part, the vice-president-elect, Carolina Cosse, said that years of hard work lay ahead «with everyone and for everyone».

We will know how to deliver, she concluded, visibly moved by the explosion of joy of thousands of «frenteamplistas» who celebrated in front of the Rambla sur, and in other parts of the country, the return to power of the left-wing alliance, which promises to govern with social justice.

Around midnight the rain arrived in Montevideo, perhaps a harbinger of new times.