![Handout picture released by Uruguay's Presidency press office showing Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou, left, and Uruguay's Vice President Beatriz Argimon during the Ceremony of Constitutional Honor Compromise at the Legislative Palace, in Montevideo, Uruguay [Handout/Gaston Britos/Uruguay's Presidency/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/944324015cdc42178cfcb926a5995c2c_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Centre-right politician Luis Lacalle Pou sworn in as president after winning November’s runoff by a close margin.
Uruguay
As elections loom and protests rattle the region, here are the stories to look out for this year.
![Luis Lacalle Pou of the centre-left National Party won Uruguay's presidential election following a recount [Santiago Mazzarovich/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/49c5e49f0a9a4a1da5d2a56174732c07_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Luis Lacalle Pou set to become president, ending 15 years of left-leaning government.
![More than 70 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot on Sunday, according to the electoral authority [Mariana Greif/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/21dd96570bf649ca96b7c68391461b06_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Number of ‘observed’ ballots exceeds the margin between the two candidates in presidential runoff.
![People stand in line to cast their votes in front of a polling station in Montevideo [Mariana Greif/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/9d788ca677d242a6aa5940e7bf8cd3d6_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Conservative Luis Lacalle Pou has led opinion polls against rival Daniel Martinez after striking key coalition deals.
![The Broad Front's Martinez had around 38 percent with more than half the votes counted [Mariana Greif/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/fe41e3adead441c2b3b98150ea73d80b_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Daniel Martinez ahead in first round but losing opposition candidates vote to unite behind challenger Luis Lacalle Pou.
![Voting is compulsory in Uruguay where voters will also elect 129 members of Congress [Mariana Greif/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/456adaceed174d23a0931c6c34920c87_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The 14-year of left rule faces challenge in the key elections being held amid a stalled economy and spike in crime.
![The United States and Brazil have drawn closer since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January after the far-right former army captain's election campaign was modeled after that of President Donald Trump [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/dcf42a5ede824818b478fa2dc6b1a82d_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Brazil and the United States exchanged more than $100bn in goods and services in 2018.
![A deal in June between the European Union and Mercosur - a South American trading bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - has been hailed as a breakthrough on international free trade for both regions [Handout/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/e2917f7672fa4ecd8d5c8d367988972a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Member nations and the European Union in June agreed to a deal that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on two-way trade.
![The South American trade bloc known as Mercosur was established in 1991 and includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay [Matilde Campodonico/The Associated Press]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/3c5b8eb708b442cbaa8d4dddee0b83cb_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
After two decades of negotiations, the new free trade agreement has become a reality.
![Representative of the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, Julio Borges, drinks water during an Organization of American States (OAS) [David Estrada Larraneta/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/030283f6c1684cdbb8133a0142b6440e_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The regional group voted in April to recognise Venezuela’s opposition envoy as country’s delegate in blow to Maduro.
![Rocco Morabito photographed during his arrest in Uruguay in 2017 [Interior Ministry handout via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cd61b243c8834a75a4368d81a6f3a543_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Morabito – dubbed ‘the king of cocaine’ – was one of Italy’s most-wanted men and had been on the run for 23 years.
![Voters in local elections in Rosario, Argentina, searching for their names on a register with the light from their smartphones [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/574eed3fb8914ac291261ce8adfd741b_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Authorities scrambling to restore power in Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay after massive blackout.
![The Argentinian capital Buenos Aires woke up to a widespread power cut on Sunday [Juan Vargas/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/7d5a611d75394d3c9b488facfb7ce3d6_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Tens of millions lost their power in Argentina and Uruguay on Sunday as Argentinian president promises investigation.