After serving as Secretary of the Presidency from day one of Luis Lacalle Pou’s government, Álvaro Delgado resigned from the position in December of last year to dedicate himself to his campaign ahead of the general elections in Uruguay.
One of the best-known faces of the current government office, this trained veterinarian won the primary elections for his party, the National Party, last June and now aspires to guarantee the “continuity” of the ruling party’s legacy. The centre-right party won its first mandate in 2019 after fifteen years of left-wing hegemony.
He has not managed to garner as much sympathy as Lacalle Pou, whose charismatic administration ends with 50% approval, but Delgado, 55, has gained some traction in recent days to face the candidate of the leftist Frente Amplio, Yamandú Orsi, favorite in the surveys.
A friend and key figure in the outgoing government, he grew up in traditional neighborhoods of the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, although he always had a special relationship with the rural world. Passionate about horses, he used to ride through the vast plains of the north of the country and soon these rides would become one of his favorite “therapies” for when he needs to clear his head.
He began his political career during the civil-military dictatorship (1973-1985) when he was 16 years old, a period in which he participated in his first events in the National Party. Despite his political awakening, he decided to continue his studies. He had doubts between studying law or a rural career and finally opted for veterinary medicine. However, it would not take long for his militancy to open his way into politics.
Starting in 2000, he held various positions in the historic center-right formation and, in 2005, he made the leap to Congress, where he held a seat first as a deputy (2005-2015) and then as a senator (2015-2020). . It was then that he crossed paths with Lacalle Pou and from there a close relationship was born as traveling companions, which grew stronger over the years.
Unlike the outgoing president, Delgado has not counted on the popularity of Lacalle Pou.
A few days before the elections, all the polls left open the question of whether he would reach the second round or if the media Andrés Ojeda, standard bearer of the ally Colorado Party and third in voting intentions, would snatch the pass to the runoff after a close campaign. side by side between the two.
The former senator hopes to reverse the trend of recent weeks and win over the electorate by appealing to the fact that he will be the face of the “re-election” of Lacalle Pou that will sustain the continuity of the official project that began in 2019.
“We are going to a second level of transformations,” he said, in his campaign closing ceremony. “Because this government leaves us a very solid first floor to continue building the future,” Delgado completed in the city of Las Piedras, on the outskirts of Montevideo. Coincidentally, it was the same scenario where the then candidate Lacalle Pou closed his campaign five years ago. years.
Despite the setbacks in the polls and a campaign that did not take off, in a possible second round Delgado would have an important ace up his sleeve to unseat the leftist Frente Amplio: the probable alliance with his historical partners from the Colorado Party.
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