Inauguration Lacalle took office on 1 March 2020. After the constitutional oath before the
General Assembly, he paraded down with
Vice President Beatriz Argimón along
Libertador Avenue in a 1937
Ford V8 convertible that belonged to his great-grandfather,
Luis Alberto de Herrera. The parade ended in
Plaza Independencia, where he received the
presidential sash from the outgoing President
Tabaré Vázquez. With a coalition of five parties, ranging from the centre-left to the hard right, he intends to pursue a policy of austerity. During his campaign, he promised to cut government spending in order to reduce the public deficit. Claiming to be a liberal, he declared that he wanted to favour business leaders in the face of "tax pressure". He proposed before his inauguration to establish an attractive tax policy to attract wealthy foreigners. The left-wing party Frente Amplio deplores initiatives that could lead to a "setback" for the country, which risks becoming a "tax haven" again, as it was in the past. Lacalle had announced during his electoral campaign the introduction of a package of government measures through an urgent consideration law, a prerogative of the
Executive Power in Uruguay that allows it to send to the General Assembly a bill with a peremptory term of 90 days, expired which is approved in the affirmative form if the General Assembly is not issued to the contrary. The
2020 coronavirus pandemic delayed the presentation of the bill, which finally formally entered the Parliament on 23 April 2020.
Cabinet Lacalle announced his cabinet on 16 December 2019, which is formed by an electoral alliance, the
Coalición Multicolor, which is made up of the National Party, the
Colorado Party,
Open Cabildo, the
Independent Party and the
Party of the People. He declared that it was going to be a "government of action", and that he wanted to form a "government that talks a lot with the people".
Foreign policy |201x201px During Lacalle Pou's first days of presidency, Uruguay's foreign relations shifted substantially from those under
Broad Front. After taking office, he condemned the government of
Nicolás Maduro in
Venezuela. And also Lacalle decided not to invite him to his inauguration stating "it is a personal decision, which I take care of. This is not the Chancellery, this is not protocol, this is my person who made this decision". The presidents of
Cuba and
Nicaragua were not invited either. However, the Lacalle government refused to recognize Guaidó as legitimate President of Venezuela and instead recognized him as President of the
National Assembly stating that recognizing Guaidó at the same time that Maduro is in power is a "step that for now we cannot take." In January 2021, the Lacalle government refused to recognize the new National Assembly, and stated that the Maduro's "dictatorial regime" violates the "rule of law." Lacalle's government ordered the withdrawal of Uruguay from the
Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), arguing that it occurred because "it is an organization that became an ideological political alliance contrary to the country's objectives of linking." In addition, it was reported that the country would return to the
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) and that the government would support
Luis Almagro in a re-election to the post of president of the
Organization of American States. Lacalle Pou's government condemned the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and advocated for the application of the
Minsk agreements as a "peaceful and lasting" solution to the conflict. During the
Gaza war, he condemned the actions of
Hamas as terrorism and expressed solidarity with the Israeli people. The Lacalle government also requested to enter the
Trans-Pacific Partnership in
New Zealand.
COVID-19 pandemic The
COVID-19 pandemic emerged within the first days of Lacalle Pou's presidency. The first four cases, all imported, were reported on 13 March. On 14 March, Lacalle requested the cancellation of public performances, and the closure of some public places. An awareness campaign was launched and citizens were advised to stay home. A two-week suspension of classes at public and private schools was also announced. On 16 March, Lacalle issued an order to close all border crossings except
Carrasco International Airport. The border with Argentina was closed effective 17 March at midnight. Lacalle refused to implement the lockdown, appealing for "individual freedom". On April 17, he informed that his administration decided to create an
committee, made up of experts that would define methods and studies to advise the government. The experts would be: the mathematician, electrical engineer, and academic from the Latin American Academy of Sciences,
Fernando Paganini; Dr.
Rafael Radi, the first Uruguayan scientist at the
National Academy of Sciences of the
United States and president of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay; and Dr. Henry Cohen, President of the National Academy of Medicine and awarded as a Master by the
World Gastroenterology Organisation in 2019. The group disbanded after 14 months. At the beginning, its measures were praised, when the country was facing a relative control of the situation and a low number of cases per day. By the beginning of 2021, infections started to increase to almost 8,000 cases per day, until the end of July when it started to decrease again. In January 2022, daily cases peaked at 14,000 cases per day for four months before declining.
2022 referendum In April 2020, the Lacalle administration presented a bill "of urgent consideration" –power of the Executive Branch of the Government according to Article 168 of the Constitution. It contained modifications in different areas, such as the economy, public safety, education, and work. It was approved in both the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, and signed into law on 9 July 2020. Opposition to the law consisted of the national trade union center PIT-CNT and the opposition party Broad Front, which launched a campaign to collect signatures to file a referendum appeal on 135 articles of the law. Finally, a referendum was held on 27 March 2022, in which the option not to repeal 135 articles of said law was imposed with 50% of the votes, compared to the option in favor of repealing with 48%. ==Personal life==