Luis Alberto Lacalle

Luis Alberto Lacalle
Official portrait, 1990
36th President of Uruguay
In office 1 March 1990 – 1 March 1995
Vice President	Gonzalo Aguirre
Preceded by	Julio María Sanguinetti
Succeeded by	Julio María Sanguinetti
Senator of Uruguay
In office 15 February 2010 – 15 February 2015
Constituency	At-large
In office 15 February 1985 – 15 February 1990
Constituency	At-large
Chair of the National Party
In office 17 August 2009 – 8 January 2011
Preceded by	Carlos Julio Pereyra
Succeeded by	Luis Alberto Heber
In office 11 April 1999 – 13 July 2004
Preceded by	Alberto Volonté
Succeeded by	Jorge Larrañaga
Representative of Uruguay
In office 15 February 1972 – 27 June 1973
Constituency	Montevideo
Personal details
Born	Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera (1941-07-13) 13 July 1941 (age 82) Montevideo, Uruguay
Political party	National Party
Spouse	Julia Pou ​ (m. 1970)​
Relations	Luis Alberto de Herrera (Maternal Grandfather) Margarita Uriarte (Maternal Grandmother)
Children	2, including Luis Lacalle
Parents	Carlos Pedro Lacalle Nuñez (Father) Maria Hortensia de Herrera Uriarte (Mother)
Alma mater	University of the Republic
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera, (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis alˈβeɾto laˈkaʝe ðe eˈreɾa]; Lacalle locally [laˈkaʒe] or [laˈkaʃe]; born 13 July 1941), is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer who served as the 36th president of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995. A member of the National Party, he previously served as National Representative from 1972 to 1973, and as Senator of the Republic from 1985 to 1990.

Lacalle was born and raised in Montevideo. He is the grandson of Luis Alberto de Herrera who led the National Party and founded one of its most prominent sectors. He attended the Jesuit Colegio Seminario and graduated from the University of the Republic in 1964 with a law degree. In his youth he worked as a journalist in some media outlets. From 1972 to 1973 he served as National Representative for the Montevideo Department, but lost his seat after the dissolution of parliament with the coup d'état carried out by President Juan María Bordaberry.

Lacalle was elected president in the 1989 election, which marked the return of the National Party to government since it was the ruling political group in the National Council of Government from 1963 to 1967, and the first election of a president for that party since Bernardo Prudencio Berro in 1860. His presidency was characterized by a liberal economic policy in line with the Washington Consensus. He carried out a fiscal adjustment and a reform to state-owned companies to deregulate them. This earned him opposition from the left and the union movement. In foreign policy, the Lacalle government signed the Treaty of Asunción that established the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).

After leaving office in 1995, Lacalle continued in active politics. In 1999 he ran for president again, finishing in third place. In 2004 he ran in the National Party presidential primaries, but was defeated by Jorge Larrañaga, who was the party's candidate in the general election. In 2009 he was a presidential candidate again but was defeated in the second round by the Broad Front nominee, José Mujica, who was elected president. With the victory of his son, Luis Lacalle Pou, in the 2019 general election, the two became the third father–son pair to serve as the nation's president.