KEY POINTS
- Uruguay’s government will demolish houses and open narrow passages in Cerro Norte under its More Neighborhood Plan.
- Earlier actions removed burned vehicles used as barricades and included 17 raids; the urban phase targets double-block shooting positions.
- Displaced residents will be rehoused within Cerro Norte, and a reclaimed communal hall will serve social and cultural activities.
Uruguay’s government will demolish houses and open blocked passages in Montevideo’s Cerro Norte neighborhood as the next phase of its More Neighborhood Plan, a security and urban intervention program.
Secretary of the Presidency Alejandro Sánchez outlined the next urban phase after earlier operations removed burned vehicles used as barricades and carried out 17 raids that disrupted criminal groups, as first reported by El País.
The demolition and street-opening phase will target passageways too narrow for two people to walk side by side, and where criminal groups have built double-block barricades to shoot at police and rival gangs.
These physical barriers have allowed armed actors to control access and confront security forces.
Under the plan, residents facing displacement will be rehoused within Cerro Norte to avoid uprooting families from the community. A large communal hall that had been privatized by criminal actors will be returned to state control for social and cultural activities.
Sánchez also addressed comparisons to El Salvador’s security model under President Nayib Bukele, stating that his only objection is the lack of legal guarantees. He framed the More Neighborhood Plan not as a separate security policy but as one component of a broader strategy to restore neighborhood control to residents.
Urban Security and Neighborhood Reclamation
The forced demolition and road-opening phase represents direct state intervention in informal urban planning, with the potential to reduce criminal territorial control and improve circulation in Cerro Norte. For international investors focused on Montevideo residential markets, such interventions introduce short-term disruption alongside a longer-term precedent for government-led neighborhood stabilization. Whether this translates into measurable property value shifts remains contingent on sustained security presence, transparent resettlement, and the pace of public infrastructure upgrades.
