President, Uruguay
Fuerte cruce entre los presidentes de Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela y Cuba en cumbre Celac
La cumbre de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños CELAC que se realizó en México fue escenario de un tenso choque entre los presidentes de Uruguay, Luis Lacalle y Paraguay Mario Abdo Benitez con sus homólogos de Venezuela Nicolas Maduro y Cuba Miguel Diaz Canel a propósito de la situación democrática y de derechos humanos en estos dos últimos países.
About Luis Pou
Luis Lacalle Pou, former president of Uruguay, has been active in political commentary and party events since leaving office in March 2025. In late October 2025, he criticized the administration of President Yamandú Orsi for canceling a contract with the Spanish shipyard Cardama for the construction of two ocean patrol boats. Lacalle Pou stated that the government "is more dedicated to destroying what it found than to building what it does not have a plan for" and said he believed "they dragged the president into a political operation." He argued that the contract had been properly vetted and that the decision exposed Uruguay to legal and financial risks. The National Party, with Lacalle Pou's participation, announced it would seek to interpellate the Defense Minister over the matter. In earlier appearances, Lacalle Pou reflected on his own administration and the 2024 electoral loss. At a National Party convention in June 2025, he said the party needed self-criticism and acknowledged that "maybe the Broad Front's candidacy wasn't so bad, or ours wasn't better." He also spoke about the concept of "freedom with responsibility," which he said guided his government, and expressed a willingness to return to politics, stating he would "live it again, correcting errors." In September 2025, he criticized the governments of Venezuela and Cuba, saying of Nicolás Maduro and Miguel Díaz-Canel that "the power embraced them, hypnotized them, and they have no way out."
Transcript (8 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Narrator0:00
The Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held in Mexico was the scene of a tense clash between the presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle, and Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, with their counterparts from Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, regarding the democratic and human rights situation in those two countries.
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Luis Pou0:25
My presence at this summit in no way or circumstance represents recognition of the government of Mr. Nicolás Maduro. There is no change in my government's position, and I think it is only fair to say it openly. But one of the elements that drives and platforms CELAC is democracy, and democracy is the best system individuals have to be free. The purest state of a person is freedom. And for that reason, participating in this forum does not mean being complacent, Mr. President. And of course, with due respect, when one sees that in certain countries there is no full democracy, when the separation of powers is not respected, when the repressive apparatus is used from power to silence protests, when opponents are imprisoned, when human rights are not respected, we, with this calm but firm voice, must say with concern that we gravely see what is happening in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
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Nicolás Maduro2:07
We deeply believe in dialogue among diverse voices. And I say to the president of Paraguay, set the date, place, and time for a debate on democracy in Paraguay, Venezuela, and Latin America, and we are ready to have it whenever you want, wherever you want. Let me add a bit more, if you allow my passion: set the date and place for a debate, President Lacalle, or set it, President López Obrador, and Venezuela is ready to debate democracy, freedoms, resistance, revolution, and whatever needs to be debated—neoliberalism—face-to-face with the people, broadcast live, in private, however you want, with respect, with respect, without exclusions. I really liked a phrase one of you said. I won't say who, because the media in your country would twist everything I say into a month-long campaign. One of the intervening presidents said we should not form ideological clubs. We should not politicize international policies. I learned that as foreign minister, and you know who taught me: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. International policy must be at the service of international law, the great interests of humanity, the great interests of the region. And we must turn the page on the divisionism that was inserted into Latin America, the harassment of the Bolivarian Revolution, and now the incessant harassment of the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions. That is not the way. We would have enough stones to throw at some of you, but we did not come to throw stones. We come to extend a hand for work, dialogue, and unity in the great challenges, precisely to preserve the issue of unity.
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Miguel Díaz-Canel4:15
The mention by President Lacalle shows his ignorance of reality. The courage and freedom of the Cuban people have been demonstrated over six decades in the face of U.S. aggression and blockade, fundamental obstacles to advancing our development, which President Lacalle did not mention. Listen to your own people, who collected more than 700,000 signatures against the current law you imposed, which changed the conditions for adjusting fuel prices, evictions, reducing people's income, the role of public enterprises, and modifying the criminal process—a real neoliberal package or "paquetazo." With neoliberalism, instability, speculation, external debt, unequal exchange, the tendency for more frequent financial crises, poverty, inequality, and selfishness between the opulent North and the dispossessed South have multiplied. The OAS, at the service of the U.S., supported efforts to isolate Cuba, military interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean, coups d'état, military dictatorships—even in your country. The U.S. designed it to contain the resistance of the peoples of our America. The OAS remained silent while torture occurred in our region and in your country. The OAS is the one that is silent today when Latin Americans are repressed, murdered, and disappeared. These events do not occur in Cuba. The OAS has a disgraceful Secretary General who contributed to, participated in, and supported the coup in Bolivia in 2019. Neoliberalism, Monroeism, and that OAS are what President Lacalle has just defended here. Thank you.
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Moderator6:13
Thank you. Thank you. You have one minute, President Lacalle, and then we continue with Alicia Bárcena.
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Luis Pou6:25
I thank the president of Cuba. He uses arguments from my nation that I obviously do not share and are not true. If there is something that is true, it is that in my country, fortunately, the opposition can collect signatures. In my country, fortunately, the opposition has democratic means to complain. That is the great difference with the Cuban regime. And I want to cite simply, and these are not my words, it is a beautiful song that those who sing it feel oppressed by the government. 'Stop the blood from running for thinking differently. Who told you that Cuba is yours? My Cuba belongs to all my people.' Thank you very much.
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Miguel Díaz-Canel7:17
Thank you. I can't allow this misunderstanding to stand. I think that President Lacalle has very bad musical taste. That song is a complete lie and a fabrication by some artists against the revolution. With us, what we want to defend as Cubans is a united Latin America that can help us face the tremendous challenges of increasingly frequent economic crises and other unexpected ones, like the terrible pandemic that today keeps all governments and peoples under pressure, without ideological or political distinctions. If President Lacalle wants to discuss things with us, we ask him to seek us out and propose spaces where we can discuss them face to face, without having to bring up issues that seem to be on the bilateral agenda between our countries. For the unity of CELAC that we advocate, thank you very much, Mr. President.
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Moderator8:15
We would continue, if you allow me, yes...