Cosse was born in Montevideo on 25 December 1961 to Villanueva Cosse, a history teacher and an actor, and Zulma Garrido. Cosse is of French and Spanish descent.[5][6] In 1991, Cosse graduated from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of the Republic in Montevideo with a degree in electrical engineering. In 2009, at the same institution, she obtained a master's degree in mathematical engineering. After her academic career, she mainly worked for private corporations, including Siemens, Claro, and Verizon.[7] She also provided assistance to governmental agencies such as designing and supervising the first structured cabling for the state under the Ministry of Foreign Relations and developing fingerprint capture devices for the Venezuelan National Electoral Council.[8]
Her political career began in 2008 when she assumed the position of director of the Information Technology Division of the Departmental Government of Montevideo. Among the policies she enacted in office was the technological implementation of the city's Metropolitan Transportation System (STM).
In May 2010, President José Mujica appointed her as president of ANTEL (National Administration of Telecommunications), a position she held until 2015. In December 2014, after the election of Tabaré Vázquez for a new presidential term was confirmed, it was announced that Cosse would be the head of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy, a position she assumed on March 2, 2015.[9][10]
2019 presidential campaign
In 2018, she began to be seen as a possible candidate for the presidency or vice presidency in the 2019 election.[11][12] On November 10, 2018, the Plenary of the Broad Front nominated Cosse, Daniel Martínez, Óscar Andrade, and Mario Bergara as pre-candidates for the 2019 presidential primaries.[13] Of the four Broad Front pre-candidates, Cosse finished second behind Martínez, obtaining 27% of the vote.[14][15]
2024 presidential campaign
Throughout 2023 different sectors of the Broad Front announced their support for a possible candidacy of Cosse for the 2024 presidential primaries.[16] On November 8, 2023, still in the position of Intendant, Cosse formally announced her candidacy.[17] She had previously said in 2020 that she would not run for president if she was elected Intendant of Montevideo.[18] In late November 2023, she was polling at about 33% in national Broad Front primary opinion polls, second to Yamandú Orsi.[19]
Intendant of Montevideo
Cosse at her inauguration as Intendant of Montevideo with Christian Di Candia, her predecessor
On September 27, Cosse was elected Intendant of Montevideo with 20.7% of the vote, with her party's total vote share exceeding that of the Coalición Multicolor candidate, Laura Raffo.[21] Cosse took office on November 27.[22]
