Who is Yamandú Orsi, the next president of Uruguay?

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Left-wing politician Yamandú Orsi is poised to become the next president of Uruguay after his main challenger in the runoff conceded defeat Sunday and even the outgoing leader of the South American country congratulated him.

His victory marks the return of a center-leftist government to Uruguay's presidency after five years of a conservative administration.

But who is Yamandú Orsi?

A teacher of history, folk dancer and former mayor, the 57-year-old politician is considered the political heir of former President José Mujica, who accompanied him in his campaign and praised him as a new leader able to find the right balance between the complex dynamics on the social, political and economic chessboard.

Orsi was born on June 13, 1967, in the rural area of the Canelones department. His father was a vineyard farmer and his mother a seamstress.

He has several similarities with his political godfather, such as the love for the countryside and a quiet lifestyle. Throughout the campaign, he was often photographed drinking mate, walking his dog and wearing casual suits. His administration is to take office next March, and like Mujica, he has said that he will not live in the presidential residence.

While living in the countryside, his sister taught him to read and write. But the young Orsi began to shape his political views and desires in the middle of the dictatorship in Uruguay, which lasted from 1973 to 1983.

After the end of the dictatorship, Orsi joined the Popular Participation Movement led by Mujica, the ex-guerrilla leader who became president in 2010.

Orsi focused his campaign on promoting friendly-environmental policies, promises to support small producers and social inclusion policies.

He has also promised a renewal of the left by favoring dialogue with everyone, and he insisted during the campaign that he’s not planning any dramatic changing in the country of 3.5 million people.

Although he says it’s important to promote social welfare, Orsi has had used a friendly tone toward the market and private sector.

Alvaro Delgado, presidential candidate for the ruling National Party, concedes defeat in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) and running mate Carolina Cosse celebrate after polls closed in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio), addresses supporters after winning the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Supporters of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) celebrate the victory of candidate Yamandú Orsi in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio), addresses supporters after winning the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio), and running mate Carolina Cosse, left, celebrate their victory in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who had a relationship with a Brazilian au pair is going to trial Monday in what prosecutors say was an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man in the stabbing of his wife.

Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields' home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, were with the wife and Ryan on the morning the victims were killed in the primary bedroom of the Banfield home, court records say. Authorities have said on that day, Banfield and Magalhães told officials they saw Ryan, a stranger, stabbing the wife after he entered the house. Then they each shot the intruder, Banfield and Magalhães said at the time.

Prosecutors have painted a different picture, arguing that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look like he and the au pair shot a predator in defense. Officials have said Banfield and Magalhães had a romantic affair beginning the year before the killings.

Both the au pair and husband were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and initially handed murder charges in the case. In 2024, Magalhães pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge after giving a statement to officials confirming parts of their theory.

In that statement, Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield created an account in his wife’s name on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account in Christine Banfield’s name, and the users made plans to meet on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, for a sexual encounter that would involve a knife, authorities said based on the statement from Magalhães.

Prosecutor Eric Clingan said last year that the au pair's statement helped the state solidify its theory ahead of trial.

“With 12 different homicide detectives, there were 24 different theories,” Clingan said. “Now, one theory.”

Not all officials investigating the case have believed Banfield and Magalhães catfished Ryan.

Brendan Miller, a former digital forensic examiner with the Fairfax County Police Department, testified last year that he analyzed dozens of devices and concluded Christine Banfield had connected with Ryan herself through the social networking platform.

An evidence analysis team at the University of Alabama peer-reviewed and affirmed Miller’s digital forensic findings, according to evidence submitted to the court.

Miller was transferred out of the department’s digital forensics unit in late 2024, though a former Fairfax County commander testified the reassignment was not punitive or disciplinary.

John Carroll, Banfield's attorney, argued that Millers' transfer was directly tethered to the case. He also said in court that Fairfax County police reassigned the case’s lead detective after that man had pushed back on the top brass’ catfishing theory.

“It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory,” Carroll said.

Banfield, whose daughter was at the house on the morning of the killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection with the case. He will also face those charges during the aggravated murder trial.

FILE - This image provided by the Fairfax County Police Department and taken on Oct. 13, 2023, was submitted as evidence in the murder case against Brendan Banfield shows a framed photo of Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães on his bedside table in Herndon, Va. (Fairfax County Police Department via AP, File)