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.

MONTEVIDEO - Uruguay's new president-elect Yamandu Orsi, whose political ambitions were galvanized by his experience growing up in a dictatorship, was the pollsters' narrow favorite to win the second round of the South American nation's presidential election on Sunday for the center-left.

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.

Left-wing politician Yamandu Orsi was elected president of Uruguay, official results showed on Sunday, in a rebuke by voters of five years of conservative rule.

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.

Like many of his fellow Latin American leaders, Uruguay’s new president-elect is left-wing. But Yamandu Orsi, who narrowly won a runoff election on Sunday, stands out in at least one way: He has never attacked Israel.