Guerrilla fighter wins Uruguay poll

Reuters

PRESIDENTIAL: Former guerrilla fighter Jose Mujica has won Uruguay's presidential run-off election.

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A former guerrilla fighter who has pledged to take a moderate path, has won Uruguay's presidential run-off election as his rightist opponent conceded.

Jose Mujica, 74, who waged an armed revolt against a democratically elected government in the 1960s and 1970s and was jailed for 14 years, was ahead with 51.2 percent of the vote, according to a quick count of the ballots by Factum polling group.

Two other pollsters made similar projections and Uruguayan television stations called the vote a victory for Mujica.

His rival, rightist former President Luis Lacalle, conceded the election, Lacalle's running mate Jorge Larranaga said.

A Mujica victory would keep in power the ruling Broad Front coalition credited by many Uruguayans with lifting the country out of an economic slump earlier this decade and stoking growth this year in the face of the global slowdown.

Mujica, a farmer and former agriculture minister and senator, vows to continue investor-friendly policies that have helped the economy in one of Latin America's most stable countries to expand for six straight years.

He campaigned praising Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Latin America's leading moderate leftist, signalling he does not intend to bring Uruguay closer to more hard-line leaders like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The new president of Uruguay will take office on March 1 and serve a five-year term.

Lacalle has raised questions about Mujica's militant past, suggesting the former guerrilla fighter would be more radical than he seemed on the campaign trail.

But Mujica said he will stay the course set by outgoing President Tabare Vazquez, Uruguay's first socialist leader. Vazquez is barred from seeking a second consecutive term.

"It's going to be the same dog, but with a different collar," Mujica said.

- Reuters