Yamandú Orsi, President of Uruguay, said it is now common practice in his country for a president to travel to neighbouring countries accompanied by his predecessors from other political parties.  “I come from a country whose president can walk among the people without bodyguards, and can enjoy a football match in the stands of a stadium like any other supporter,” he stressed.  Though his country is not a paradise and faces new challenges related to child poverty, public security and social inequality, the historical strength of its institutions and political system has allowed Uruguay to continue to stand out in the region for its high level of human development and income distribution policies.

He went on to say that Uruguay is recognized worldwide for its commitment to peace and for being a hospitable land for migrants from all latitudes.  “According to the 2025 Global Peace Index, in 2023 there were 59 inter-State conflicts, this is the highest number since the end of the Second World War,” he noted. “In 2024, global military expenditure rose by almost 10 per cent in real terms when compared to 2023, this represents the largest annual increase since the end of the Cold War,” he said, adding that this expenditure of $2.7 trillion led to new forms of cruelty and death that wars now bear.

“In our time, technological progress has unleashed more perverse means of waging war, including the use of military practices aimed at sowing fear, terror and death among the civilian population,” he warned. Condemning all forms of terrorism, he stressed that the main objective of current wars seems to be the systematic practice of extermination.  “No State that claims to be democratic and to live under the rule of international law can, even under the legitimate right to defend itself against terrorism, exercise barbarity against any civilian population, least of all against especially vulnerable and defenseless persons,” he said.  Supporting the principle of a two-State solution in the Middle East, he said his government takes reports produced by the international community concerning the Palestinian territories seriously, urging for the immediate suspension of military operations.

He also said that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the Assembly 77 years ago, stands as a revolutionary manifesto for the times we are living through, beginning with its first article.  His country’s entire political system is proud to decisively contribute to global tasks, such as maintaining international peace and security, supporting disarmament, food security, global health and addressing climate change.  “In the last 35 years and without interruption, Uruguay has deployed battalions to various United Nations peacekeeping operations,” he noted.  His State has become the leading country in Latin America, and the second per capita worldwide, in contributing to these missions, and Uruguayan troops have become specialized in the most emblematic function of peace operations — the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. He added that, in 1907, his country took a firm stance at the Hague Conference on arbitration, seeing it as an essential and obligatory mechanism for resolving conflicts between States. “Just a few years later, in 1921, Uruguay was the first State in the world to accept the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the predecessor of the International Court of Justice.”  Uruguay is in an excellent position to offer itself to the world as a host for negotiations and promoter of networks of dialogue and mediation, he concluded.