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Former rebel wins presidential election in Uruguay

30 November 2009 10:58 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA. Jose â€œPepeâ€ Mujica, a former guerrilla who spent more than a decade in prison, defeated ex- President Luis Alberto Lacalle in the countryâ€™s presidential election today, pollsters said, Bloomberg reported.

Mujica, 74, won 51.6 percent of the vote compared with 44.4 percent for Lacalle, Oscar Bottinelli, a pollster with Montevideo-based Factum, said on Channel 4 television, citing preliminary results. Pollsters from Equipos Mori and Cifra also said Mujica won.

Mujica supporters, waving the red, white and blue flags of the ruling Frente Amplio coalition, celebrated at an outdoor rally under cloudy skies in the capital.

The former rebel, who was imprisoned for more than a decade by the military juntas that ruled Uruguay in the 1970s and 1980s, campaigned on pledges to continue the policies of President Tabare Vazquez. Since taking office in March 2005, Vazquez, 69, has cut the unemployment rate to 7.3 percent in September from 12.3 percent, encouraged record foreign investment, increased social spending and boosted wages.

Electricity at Ranch

Speaking to reporters when he cast his vote earlier today, Mujica said heâ€™ll need to renovate a few rooms in his ranch so that the presidential guards will have access to electricity.

Mujica, a former farmer, lawmaker and agriculture minister, said he will hand control of the economy to running mate Danilo Astori, who was Vazquezâ€™s economy minister for four years before stepping down last year to be eligible for elected office.

â€œEconomic policy will continue on the same course, taking advantage of the experience of Vazquezâ€™s government,â€ Astori said at a Nov. 25 news conference in Melo, Uruguay. â€œWeâ€™ll keep betting on an investment climate that has had lots of results. We want higher investment, growth and employment levels because thatâ€™s the genuine basis for social reform.â€

Under Vazquez, central bank reserves almost quadrupled to $7.9 billion, and the country boosted trade with the U.S., Europe and Asia. In 2007, Finlandâ€™s Metsae-Botnia Oy opened a $1.1 billion pulp mill in the city of Fray Bentos, Uruguayâ€™s biggest-ever investment.

Uruguay Debt

The government forecasts the economy will expand 1.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2010, spurred by rising prices for soybean, wheat and beef exports.

Uruguay is the worldâ€™s eighth-largest exporter of beef, and shipments may climb 2.9 percent next year as global demand grows, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultureâ€™s Foreign Agricultural Service.

Uruguayâ€™s credit rating outlook was raised to positive from stable in July by Fitch Ratings, citing in a report the South American countryâ€™s â€œstrengthening macroeconomic policy framework.â€ Fitch rates Uruguayâ€™s foreign debt BB-, or three levels below investment grade.

The country sold $500 million of bonds in September to help fund future expenses amid a rally in emerging market bonds. Prices for the bonds, due in 2025, have climbed 6.6 percent to 108.14 cents on the dollar since Sept. 22. The yield has fallen to 6.07 percent from 6.66 percent since the bonds were issued.