World

Uruguay Lurches Leftward

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

November 1, 1999 / 4:59 AM EST / CBS

Latin AmericaÂ's swing to the left picked up fresh momentum Sunday, as Tabare Vazquez won the highest tally in Uruguay's presidential vote. Now the center-left opposition candidate faces a run-off vote next month that could end the 171-year-long domination of two center-right parties in UruguayÂ's democratic politics.

Pledging to usher in social change, boost UruguayÂ's flagging economy and create jobs, the 59-year-old Popular Front candidate won 38.1 percent of Sunday's vote with 97.8 percent of the official vote tallied.

He was followed by Jorge Batlle, 72, of the center-right ruling Colorado Party, who took 31.4 percent, the government said.

With no candidate taking a majority, Vazquez and Batlle will go to a run-off election Nov. 28 where Vazquez could break a historic grip on the presidency by two center-right parties.

The winner will replace Colorado President Julio Sanguinetti March 1, 2000. He will oversee a country -- about the size of North Dakota -- whose unemployment has climbed and economy has been hurt by financial woes in neighboring Brazil and Argentina.

Â"The real choice is between the change demanded by Uruguayans or the continuation of policies which have failed,Â" Vazquez said before the vote in a televised address.

Political analysts say the charismatic Vazquez has successfully tapped a vein of discontent among Uruguayans this year, who are largely disenchanted with the center-right ruling parties that have dominated Uruguay's democratic politics since its founding in 1828.

Â"The people have shown their desire for strong change,Â" said Vazquez, a doctor who first gained political fame as a mayor of Montevideo.

Vazquez's calm, reassuring style has been an important factor in making the Popular Front palatable for Uruguayans, who are wary of extremes of any stripe, political analysts said.

A victory by Vasquez in the runoff would be yet another example of a leftist political renewal in Latin America.

After years of disfavor following the end of the Cold War, Latin America's left appears to be gaining strength. Argentina's center-left opposition Alliance won the Oct. 24 presidential election. And in Chile, Ricardo Lagos is favored by the polls to become the country's first elected socialist in three decades.

In Uruguay, the campaign had been characterized by talk about whether the left has become more moderate since the Cold War-era.

This vote is the fourth time Uruguay will elect a president and Congress since it emerged from a 12-year dictatorship in 1985. Elections also were held Sunday for 30 senators and 99 deputies in the bicameral legislature.