Jorge Washington Larrañaga Fraga (8 August 1956 – 22 May 2021) was a Uruguayan lawyer and politician of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

(PN) who served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 1 March 2020 until his death. He previously served as Intendant of Paysandú from 1990 to 1999, as well as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

between 2000 and 2020.

Early life and education

Larrañaga was born on August 32, 1956 in

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

, the son of Jorge Washington Larrañaga Ilarraz (1921–2003) and Ketty Fraga Coubrough (1923–2010). He was of Basque and English descent. He obtained a law degree from the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

and specialized in civil and labor law.

Political career

From 1982 to 1984 he served as secretary of the Paysandú Departmental Commission of the National Party, and later from 1985 to 1989 as its vice president. In parallel, he served as a member of the department's legislature. In the 1990 election he was elected Intendant of the

Paysandú Department Paysandú Department () is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of and a population of 121,843. Its capital is the city of Paysandú. It borders Salto Department to its north, Tacuarembó Department to its east, Rí ...

to serve a five-year term. In 1995 he was reelected to office. In the 1999 general election he was elected Senator of the Republic for the

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

sector. From the Senate he was critical of the administration of President

Jorge Batlle Jorge Luis Batlle Ibáñez (; ''Batlle'' locally or ; 25 October 1927 – 24 October 2016) was a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, who served as the 38th president of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005. A member of the Colorado Party (Uruguay), Colorado ...

and positioned himself against the agreements made between the National and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

parties. In the 2004 presidential primaries, Larrañaga ran for president of Uruguay, and was elected the party's candidate. He announced Sergio Abreu as his running mate and in the October general election he obtained 35.13% of the vote, finishing second behind

Tabaré Vázquez Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas (; 17 January 19406 December 2020) was a Uruguayan politician and oncologist who served as the 39th and 41st President of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020. During his political career, Vázquez was a ...

, candidate of the Broad Front who was elected President. In August 2004 Larrañaga became president of the

, being a strong opponent of the Tabaré Vázquez government. He served in the position until September 2008, when he was succeeded by

Carlos Julio Pereyra Carlos Julio Pereyra Pereyra (15 November 1922 – 9 February 2020) was a Uruguayan schoolteacher, author and politician belonging to the National Party. Pereyra was born in Rocha. He had a long political career, serving as representative and lo ...

. Weeks later he announced that he would run for president again in the 2009 presidential primaries, in which he finished second to

Luis Alberto Lacalle Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera (; ''Lacalle'' locally or ; 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 Nation ...

. However, Larrañaga was proclaimed as his running mate and vice presidential candidate for the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. During the campaign he focused on capturing the vote of the political center. In October of that year, the Lacalle-Larrañaga formula obtained 29.07% of the vote and in the second round, 45.37%, which was not enough to beat

José Mujica José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (20May 193513May 2025) was a Uruguayan politician, revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and imprisone ...

, who was elected president with 54.63%. In January 2012 he resigned from his seat on the National Party board. In the 2014 presidential primaries he came in second place behind

Luis Lacalle Pou Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (, ; born 11 August 1973), is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, who served as the 42nd president of Uruguay from 2020 to 2025. The son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle Pou attended ...

, who offered him the vice presidential candidacy. Despite not being elected as a presidential candidate, Larrañaga was reelected Senator of the Republic for the 48th Legislature. Since 2016 it was rumored that he would run again in the presidential primaries in 2019. In June 2017 he announced his pre-candidacy for President of Uruguay. In May 2018 he launched the signature collection campaign to promote constitutional reform. The project sought to implement measures regarding public security due to the increase in crime rates during the Broad Front governments. The proposed amendments to the Constitution would create a national guard, forbid early release for some serious crimes, introduce life sentences for crimes of rape, sexual abuse or homicide of minors as well as aggravated homicide of adults, and allow the police to conduct night raids. In the 2019 presidential primaries he finished in third place within his party. In the October general election he was re-elected Senator, but was announced as

by the elected president

. He took office on March 1, 2020.

Death

On 22 May 2021, Larrañaga suddenly died of a heart attack. He was mourned by the government and several political figures of all ideologies.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larranaga, Jorge 1956 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Uruguayan lawyers Candidates for President of Uruguay National Party (Uruguay) politicians Members of the Senate of Uruguay Intendants of Paysandú Department Uruguayan vice-presidential candidates Interior ministers of Uruguay People from Paysandú University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Uruguayan people of Basque descent Uruguayan people of British descent Burials in Paysandú Department