Uruguay’s leftist opposition candidate Yamandú Orsi becomes country's new president

But it's one thing to lose the elections and another to be defeated. We are not defeated,

he added, generating a burst of applause

Let’s understand that there is another part of our country who have different feelings today,

he said, as fireworks erupted over his stage overlooking the city's waterfront

Delgado struggled with communication defending the government’s agenda,

said Nicolás Saldías, a Latin America and Caribbean senior analyst for the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit

With sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner,

Delgado told supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital, Montevideo

They did more in five years than the Broad Front did in 15 years,

said 38-year-old Jaqueline Fleitas, who cast her second-round ballot for Delgado, mentioning the construction of a hospital near her home in Montevideo

Today, the Uruguayans have defined who will hold the presidency of the republic. And I want to send here, with all these actors of the coalition, a big hug and a greeting to Yamandu Orsi,

Delgado said in a speech as he clutched a large Uruguayan flag in his hand

Joy will return for the majority,

the coalition posted on social media as Orsi approached victory

He’s my candidate, not only for my sake but also for my children’s,

Yeny Varone, a nurse at a polling station, said of Orsi

Luis Lacalle Poupresident

I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country,

Lacalle Pou wrote on social media platform X, ... adding that

The country of liberty, equality and fraternity has triumphed once again,

he said, vowing to unite the nation of 3.4 million people after such a tight vote

This is no small feat,

he said of Uruguay’s “citizenry that respects formal institutions.”

I will be the President who calls for national dialogue again and again, who builds a more integrated society and country,

he said,

Andrés Ojedalawyer and TV pundit

If I had brought a foreigner here and I didn’t tell him that there was an election, he wouldn’t have noticed,

Ojeda said

We must value what we have: democratic coexistence,

said the head of the Broad Front coalition, Fernando Pereira

Uruguay is a small country, but it has earned recognition for being stable, for having a citizenry that respects institutional formalities,

he told reporters from his local polling station

I want (Orsi) to know that my idea is to form a government of national unity,

Delgado told reporters after casting his vote in the capital's upscale Pocitos neighborhood

Starting tomorrow, I'll have to work very hard, there's a lot to do,

he told The Associated Press from the glass-walled NH Columbia hotel, thronged friends and colleagues embracing and congratulating him

Neither candidate convinced me and I feel that there are many in my same situation,

said Vanesa Gelezoglo, 31, in the capital, Montevideo,

The essence of politics is agreements,

he said

When it comes to governing, with the parliamentary structure that we will have, the government will be forced to negotiate,

he told reporters as he emerged from his local polling station, praising Uruguay's robust and level-headed democracy as "no small thing" in Latin America