MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Polls opened in the small South American nation of Uruguay on Sunday in an election race between moderates that defies regional trends of bitter division and democratic erosion.
Some 2.7 million registered voters in Uruguay are set to pick a new president in the race pitting an incumbent conservative coalition against a center-left alliance.
Voters will also pick 30 senators and 99 deputies and decide whether to overhaul the country's social security system in a contentious constitutional referendum that would expand the fiscal deficit in one of Latin America’s wealthiest countries.
No one expects the outcome of the presidential vote to herald drastic change in this nation of 3.4 million people, long heralded as a model democracy and island of stability in the region.
With the main parties in broad agreement on many issues, the campaign is being fought over voter concerns like child poverty and security. Rising homicides and robberies represent the biggest concern for Uruguayans, polls show, even though the country is one of the region’s safest.
“In a way, Uruguay has been boring, but boring in this sense is very good,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas consultancy group in Buenos Aires. “We’ve seen so many dramatic changes in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and suddenly we face elections in Uruguay in which there is a general consensus, there’s stability.”
While in neighboring Brazil and Argentina, voters recently vented their rage at the status quo, Uruguay's electorate remains largely satisfied with the government's business-friendly policies and the economy's steady growth. The current center-right president, Luis Lacalle Pou, enjoys a 50% approval rating.
As constitutional term limits bar Lacalle Pou from running for a second consecutive term, the governing party's candidate is Álvaro Delgado, 55, a congressman and Lacalle Pou's former chief of staff who started his career as a veterinarian.
"This government leaves us with a very solid first level to continue building the future,” Delgado said at his closing campaign rally.
His main challenger is Yamandú Orsi, 57, a center-left former mayor and history teacher with humble roots from the Frente Amplio (or Broad Front) coalition, which governed for 15 years before Lacalle Pou’s 2019 victory. His campaign ads show him drinking mate, the herbal drink beloved by Uruguayans, and walking his dog in casual wear.
From 2005-2020, Frente Amplio oversaw progressive laws, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage. Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize cannabis for recreational use and developed one of the greenest grids, powered by 98% renewable energy.
The latest polls show Orsi in a comfortable lead at 44%, but not winning outright, which would send the country to a run-off on Nov. 24.
Orsi has benefited from the support of popular former President José “Pepe” Mujica, the eccentric former guerrilla who helped spearhead Uruguay's transformation into the continent's most socially liberal country during his 2010-2015 presidency. Now 89, Mujica is battling esophageal cancer.
Like Mujica, who lives in a modest farmhouse on the outskirts of Montevideo, Orsi says he wouldn't live in the presidential palace if elected.
In a distant third is Andrés Ojeda, 40, a muscular and media-savvy lawyer who has tried to energize apathetic young voters with splashy campaign videos showing him lifting at the gym and describing himself as a classic Capricorn.
"I want to be the candidate who inspires and enthralls people,” he said at his campaign event Thursday.
He told The Associated Press that his unconventional style draws inspiration from other charismatic “leaders of the new politics” in Latin America wielding social media to amass fans, like El Salvador's populist Nayib Bukele and Argentina's radical libertarian Javier Milei. But he backs the ruling coalition and promises no radical change.
Perhaps more controversial than the presidential contest is a constitutional referendum also held Sunday that would overhaul Uruguay's social security system.
If approved by more than 50% of voters, the $23 billion scheme backed by the country's powerful leftist unions would lower the retirement age, boost payouts and transfer Uruguayans' privately managed savings to a government-run trust.
Both leading candidates have spoken out against the proposal, which has already sent tremors through global markets. Shrugging off the fiscal consequences, supporters say it would redistribute Uruguay’s resources more fairly.
There is also a referendum on allowing nighttime police raids on homes.
Uruguayans are not obliged to vote in the plebiscites, but voting in the congressional and presidential races is compulsory. Turnout in the 2019 election topped 90% — among the highest anywhere in the world.
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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina
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