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Americas
March 20, 2005 ( politics )
Uruguay elects a left/centrist who started with quite an impressive level of coolness: (BBC)
Vazquez welcomed "the Cuban people once again at this house" A day after his inauguration as Uruguay's first left-wing president, Tabare Vazquez has bolstered links with leftist leaders in the region.Mr Vazquez signed a deal for energy co-operation with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez.
He completed agreements on human rights with Argentine leader Nestor Kirchner and held talks with the Brazilian President, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
(more after the break)
Uruguay is the fifth Latin American nation to move to the left recently.Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Argentina also have left-wing governments.
The BBC's Elliott Gotkine in Buenos Aires says Mr Vazquez appears to be making good on his promise to put regional integration at the top of his foreign policy.
Meeting the left
President Vazquez restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba immediately after being sworn in.
Uruguay broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba three years ago under outgoing President Jorge Battle.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro accused him of being a traitor for supporting US efforts to condemn Cuba's human rights record in a United Nations vote.
President Vazquez said that ties should never have been broken off and he welcomed "the Cuban people once again at this house".
Crowds of supporters celebrate the inauguration of Tabare Vazquez
Vazquez's election brought to an end almost 180 years of two-party ruleThe Venezuelan leader and Mr Vazquez agreed to exchange Uruguayan food for Venezuelan fuel, and to work together on a state-run regional TV channel.
Mr Vazquez asked Mr Kirchner to help to look for the bodies of a reported 150 Uruguayans who disappeared on Argentine soil in the 1970s and 1980s, when both countries were under military rule.
After holding talks with President Lula, the new leader and his Brazilian counterpart inaugurated a Brazilian-owned brewery in the north of Uruguay.
Correspondents say that despite his warm meeting with President Chavez, Mr Vazquez's economic policy will be closer to the cautious centre-left approach of President Lula.
Posted by griffjon at March 20, 2005 03:59 PM
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