Uruguay's president-elect Yamandu Orsi reiterated his controversial position on Venezuela during a press conference on Wednesday, saying his country must respect diplomatic relations in place and breaking precedent for recent leaders of the small South American nation.

Left-wing candidate Yamandu Orsi from the Broad Front coalition wins Uruguay's presidential election in a second-round run-off vote against Alvaro Delgado of the National Party on Sunday. His triumph marks a return to power for the Broad Front coalition after five years of a conservative government.

The candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed for the past five years conceded defeat after a tight runoff, as Uruguay joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

The election was free of the anti-establishment fury that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere, like the United States and neighboring Argentina.

Mr. Delgado’s concession signaled an end to the short stint of the right-leaning government in Uruguay that in 2020, when President Luis Lacalle Pou took office, ended 15 years of government by the Broad Front. During that period, the Broad Front oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana.

Uruguay's leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, claimed victory in a tight presidential runoff Sunday, ousting the conservative governing coalition and making the South American nation the latest to rebuke the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Uruguayans are returning to the polls for a second round of voting to choose their next president. In Sunday's election, the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.

Even as the vote count continued, Álvaro Delgado, the presidential candidate for the center-right ruling coalition, conceded defeat.