Uruguayan Government Declares 3 Days of National Mourning After Death of Former President

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan government on Sunday, December 6th, decreed three days of mourning after the death of former President Tabaré Vázquez, who died at the age of 80 from lung cancer.

According to a statement, the government of President Luis Lacalle Pou decreed a period of national mourning on Dec. 6, 7, and 8, with a flag at half-staff in all state departments, within the country and abroad.

“Uruguay has lost a prominent scientist and a citizen defender of human rights, a promoter of using dialogue as a pathway, someone who watched out all his life for the health of the people,” the official statement said.

Vázquez’s closest friends and advisors held a small wake for the former president, followed by a funeral procession which organizers encouraged citizens to follow through the media.

Vázquez will be buried in a private ceremony at La Teja Cemetery in Montevideo, near the area where the former president grew up.

Vázquez, part of the Broad Front party, was the country’s first left-wing president and served two terms, from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020.

Source: Xinhua