Yamandu Orsi takes office as president of Uruguay, returning the South American country of 3.4 million to leftist governance after five years of predecessor Luis Lacalle Pou's center-right leadership. "This country today celebrates 40 years of uninterrupted democracy. Therefore, it is the longest period, and it fills us with pride and joy, happy to celebrate it this way," says Orsi in his first speech as president in Montevideo's Independence Square. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES