An interview with Uruguay’s president-elect, Luis Lacalle Pou

AT HIS CAMPAIGN headquarters on Artigas Boulevard, named after Uruguay’s founding hero, the man who hopes to be its next one was energised. Luis Lacalle Pou, the country’s conservative president-elect, is 46 years old but looks younger, with floppy brown hair, no jacket and sleeves rolled up. Days ahead of his swearing-in on March 1st, in an interview with The Economist, Mr Lacalle Pou set out a wide range of plans, from relaxing immigration rules to cutting public spending. But what obsessed him most of all was tackling a recent surge in crime (see chart). He lamented that just down the road were “no-go areas” overrun with violence. “It’s time to take back the streets,” he said, “by force if need be.”