Jose ‘Pepe’ Mujica, a Senator for the governing center-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front), narrowly missed a first-round victory for president of Uruguay in Sunday’s elections. Mujica is noteworthy for having been a leader of the Tupamaru urban guerrillas of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Latin American Herald Tribune headline is nicely dramatic: “Former Guerrilla and Former President Headed to Runoff in Uruguay.”
Mujica won just over 48% of the vote. Former president Luis Alberto Lacalle of the National Party won just under 29%. The runoff will be 29 November.
In the congressional elections, boz notes, the Frente Amplio appears to have lost its majority in the first chamber and to be in a tie with the combined forces of the right (National plus Colorado) in the Senate. The Senate tie means that the vice president on the ticket that wins the runoff will be in a position to determine who controls that chamber.
As an update, movement in the legislative elections in the last day show the early returns got one or two legislative seats wrong. The FA took one additional Senate seat giving them 16 of 30. There is an ongoing recount of 30-40,000 votes for the 50th seat in the lower house. If the FA win the recount, they’ll have a majority.
I based what I had on Monday on the early returns, which is what was reported in the Uruguayan media as well. According to the media, they seats changed when they counted additional ballots yesterday. The counts will be certified final on Friday or Saturday.
Seed planted by boz — 28 October 2009 @ 10:59