Deaths on October 24

Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, Uruguayan politician, former president (2000-2005) (b. 1927)

Jorge Luis Batlle Ibáñez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoɾxe ˈβaʎe iˈβaɲes]; Batlle locally [ˈbaʒe] or [ˈbaʃe]; 25 October 1927 – 24 October 2016) was a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, and a member of the Colorado Party. He served as the President of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005.

Dr. Jorge Batlle became Uruguayan president on 1 March 2000, after having been elected the previous year by popular vote. He was the fourth Uruguayan President belonging to the Batlle family, one of whom was his own father, Luis Batlle Berres. A name that is closely related to the political history of the country, Batlle began his political career in the 1950s and had served as member of the Uruguayan Congress for the Colorado Party, to which many members of his own family – which came to the River Plate from the Catalan coast at Sitges, Spain, 200 years ago – had belonged before him.