Uruguayan President celebrates Christmas with Peacekeeping troops in the Congo

The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, returned to Montevideo on Saturday night after celebrating Christmas with Uruguayan troops deployed on a U.N. Peacekeeping operation (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“After celebrating the traditional festivities with the Blue Helmets of the national contingent in D.R. Congo, the President and his delegation began their return to Uruguay,” the Uruguayan Army reported on Twitter.

In a speech given at a base in Goma – the capital of the northeastern province of North Kivu – Lacalle Pou noted that it was “a profound honor” to have participated “in these festivities with our personnel stationed in the DRC.”

Uruguayan Minister of Defense Javier Garcia also visited troops in the DRC and shared images of his time in Goma and Bukavu on Twitter, where he and the president spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, respectively.

Imágenes de la visita junto al presidente @LuisLacallePou al contingente uruguayo en Congo, con quienes compartimos la Nochebuena y Navidad. Muchas gracias por el recibimiento que nos dieron. pic.twitter.com/wM6Jp44DHZ

— Javier García (@JavierGarcia_Uy) December 25, 2021

The presidential delegation presented the Uruguayan Blue Helmets with jerseys from two of Uruguay’s most famous soccer clubs – Nacional and Peñarol – in a gesture meant to show solidarity between the Uruguayan people and its Armed Forces.

Lacalle Pou’s visit was scheduled after the UN Security Council extended MONUSCO's mandate for another year last Monday.

Uruguay is currently one of the countries that contributes the highest number of military personnel to UN Peacekeeping operations and currently has 819 peacekeepers deployed in the DRC.