Uruguay: Mujica is President After Run-off Election · Global Voices
Mario Blanco

The new president of Uruguay has finally been elected: José “Pepe” Mujica [es], candidate from left-wing party The Broad Front, obtained the majority of the votes on the run-off election of November 29. The first round of voting for president occurred the last Sunday of October, with no candidate reaching the majority required. Mujica held the leadership then with his running mate, the now vicepresident-elect Danilo Astori, as he received 48.16% of the votes.
Photo of José Mujica by Agência Brasil. Taken from Wikipedia, using a Creative Commons License: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica
According to Portal 180  [es], Mujica is the first former guerrilla member that reaches the presidential chair of Uruguay. He was part of the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros (National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros) during the 60s and fought the government of Jorge Pacheco Areco. He was involved in armed actions such as Toma de Pando [es] (Pando takeover) and Fuga de Punta Carretas (Punta Carretas escape, an epic prison break recently featured on a documentary by History Channel [es]).
Mujica also founded the Movimiento de Participación Popular [es] (Movement of Popular Participation), which led him to hold assigments as deputy, senator and more recently as Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries minister.
“Ni vencidos, ni vencedores” (“Neither losers nor winners”) was the phrase that the president-elect used to sum up his victory.
Strong opinions about the result of the election can be read on the blogosphere. The reaction of the anonymous author of the leisure-oriented blog Ociomentario [es] can be understood as disappointment:
URUGUAY ELIGIÓ POR PRIMERA VEZ EN SU HISTORIA UN PRESIDENTE ASESINO
To the author of the political-oriented blog ElPolvorin [es], the elected president represents a fake change:
como el nuevo portavoz del neo liberalismo en Uruguay disfrazado de Izquierdista, continua la política digitada por el FMI [Fondo Monetario Internacional], con dos caras y dos discursos, uno cuando viaje a Venezuela y el otro cuando viaje a EEUU, como Tabare .
Nada habrá que esperar de estos nuevos neo liberales, “vuelve el pobre a su pobreza, vuelve el rico a su riqueza”.
On the side that celebrates the president-elect, blogger Antonio Giossa, who is uruguayan but lives in Argentina, explains [es] that Mujica won the election because of three main points:
Primero y principal, será la continuidad del actual gobierno frenteamplista. Si bien su estilo lo diferencia un poco de Tabaré Vázquez, Mujica cumplirá a rajatabla el lineamiento planteado por el Programa Político del Frente Amplio.
Segundo, su personalidad y su carisma. Campechano, frontal, honesto, sin pelos en la lengua. Algo que a veces puede jugar en contra y cosechar rechazos, pero que también ha logrado generar una confianza casi absoluta de parte de los votantes y simpatizantes.
Tercero, el Frente Amplio logró demostrar, a partir del año 2004, que es una fuerza política que sabe ejercer el gobierno en forma responsable, efectiva y con un solo objetivo en mente: el bienestar del pueblo.
Mujica will be sworn in as president on March 2010 for a 5-year term.
Translated by Issa Villarreal