Bankotsu
30th November 2009, 04:07
Former Uruguay Rebel Mujica Wins Presidency, Vows Continuity
By Rodrigo Orihuela
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Jose “Pepe” Mujica (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jose+%3FPepe%3F+Mujica&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a former guerrilla who spent more than a decade in prison, won the country’s presidential elections yesterday, ensuring a second term for the ruling Frente Amplio coalition.
Mujica, 74, defeated ex-President Luis Alberto Lacalle (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Luis+Alberto+Lacalle&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), who conceded the election less than two hours after polling ended, saying he didn’t want a “divided country.” Mujica won 51.7 percent of the vote while Lacalle got 44.1 percent, pollster Oscar Bottinelli of Montevideo-based Factum said, citing preliminary results.
“We have won for the continuity of this government,” Mujica told supporters waving red, white and blue flags in front of an outdoor stage on the banks of the River Plate last night. “We will make mistakes, but we won’t be blind. We will be wherever there is suffering.”
The former guerrilla, who was imprisoned by the military juntas that ruled Uruguay in the 1970s and 1980s, campaigned on pledges to improve education, reduce poverty and fight crime. He said he will hand control of the $32 billion economy to running mate Danilo Astori (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Danilo+Astori&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), who was economy minister for four years under current President Tabare Vazquez (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tabare+Vazquez&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1).
“I will be dedicated to working with the economic team, which will basically be the same one as the current government,” Astori said during an interview on Montevideo’s Channel 10 television last night.
Control of Congress
Mujica will take office March 1, backed by majority control of both houses of Congress. Speaking to reporters after he cast his vote, Mujica said he’ll need to renovate a few rooms in his ranch so that presidential guards will have access to electricity. He also apologized for letting his “tongue run too much” during the campaign.
Vazquez, who had backed Astori in the Frente Amplio’s internal elections earlier this year, hugged Mujica at the campaign headquarters and said any differences with the president-elect were just “a normal part of political life.”
About 2.6 million voters were eligible to take part in yesterday’s vote, the national electoral court said on its Web site. Heavy rain in parts of the country didn’t impede voting, the court said.
Since taking office in March 2005, Vazquez, 69, has cut the unemployment (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=URURURT%3AIND) rate to 7.3 percent in September from 12.3 percent, encouraged record foreign investment, increased social spending and boosted wages.
Investments
Under Vazquez, central bank reserves almost quadrupled to $7.9 billion, and the country boosted trade with the U.S., Europe and Asia. In 2007, Finland’s Metsae-Botnia Oy opened a $1.1 billion pulp mill in the city of Fray Bentos, Uruguay’s biggest-ever investment.
The government forecasts the economy will expand (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=URGDNSAY%3AIND) 1.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2010, spurred by rising prices for soybean, wheat and beef exports.
“The Uruguayan economy has held up considerably well in the face of the global recession,” the International Monetary Fund said in a Nov. 11 statement, citing the country’s regulation of the banking system and growing international reserves.
Uruguay is the world’s eighth-largest exporter of beef, and shipments may climb 2.9 percent next year as global demand grows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Uruguay’s credit rating outlook was raised to positive from stable in July by Fitch Ratings, citing in a report the South American country’s “strengthening macroeconomic policy framework.” Fitch rates Uruguay’s foreign debt BB-, or three levels below investment grade.
The country sold $500 million of bonds in September to help fund future expenses amid a rally in emerging market bonds. Prices for the bonds, due in 2025, have climbed 6.6 percent to 108.14 cents on the dollar since Sept. 22. The yield has fallen to 6.07 percent from 6.66 percent since the bonds were issued.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=atnamSlgGI9A
José Mujica
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Pepemujica2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica
By Rodrigo Orihuela
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Jose “Pepe” Mujica (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jose+%3FPepe%3F+Mujica&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), a former guerrilla who spent more than a decade in prison, won the country’s presidential elections yesterday, ensuring a second term for the ruling Frente Amplio coalition.
Mujica, 74, defeated ex-President Luis Alberto Lacalle (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Luis+Alberto+Lacalle&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), who conceded the election less than two hours after polling ended, saying he didn’t want a “divided country.” Mujica won 51.7 percent of the vote while Lacalle got 44.1 percent, pollster Oscar Bottinelli of Montevideo-based Factum said, citing preliminary results.
“We have won for the continuity of this government,” Mujica told supporters waving red, white and blue flags in front of an outdoor stage on the banks of the River Plate last night. “We will make mistakes, but we won’t be blind. We will be wherever there is suffering.”
The former guerrilla, who was imprisoned by the military juntas that ruled Uruguay in the 1970s and 1980s, campaigned on pledges to improve education, reduce poverty and fight crime. He said he will hand control of the $32 billion economy to running mate Danilo Astori (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Danilo+Astori&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), who was economy minister for four years under current President Tabare Vazquez (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tabare+Vazquez&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1).
“I will be dedicated to working with the economic team, which will basically be the same one as the current government,” Astori said during an interview on Montevideo’s Channel 10 television last night.
Control of Congress
Mujica will take office March 1, backed by majority control of both houses of Congress. Speaking to reporters after he cast his vote, Mujica said he’ll need to renovate a few rooms in his ranch so that presidential guards will have access to electricity. He also apologized for letting his “tongue run too much” during the campaign.
Vazquez, who had backed Astori in the Frente Amplio’s internal elections earlier this year, hugged Mujica at the campaign headquarters and said any differences with the president-elect were just “a normal part of political life.”
About 2.6 million voters were eligible to take part in yesterday’s vote, the national electoral court said on its Web site. Heavy rain in parts of the country didn’t impede voting, the court said.
Since taking office in March 2005, Vazquez, 69, has cut the unemployment (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=URURURT%3AIND) rate to 7.3 percent in September from 12.3 percent, encouraged record foreign investment, increased social spending and boosted wages.
Investments
Under Vazquez, central bank reserves almost quadrupled to $7.9 billion, and the country boosted trade with the U.S., Europe and Asia. In 2007, Finland’s Metsae-Botnia Oy opened a $1.1 billion pulp mill in the city of Fray Bentos, Uruguay’s biggest-ever investment.
The government forecasts the economy will expand (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=URGDNSAY%3AIND) 1.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2010, spurred by rising prices for soybean, wheat and beef exports.
“The Uruguayan economy has held up considerably well in the face of the global recession,” the International Monetary Fund said in a Nov. 11 statement, citing the country’s regulation of the banking system and growing international reserves.
Uruguay is the world’s eighth-largest exporter of beef, and shipments may climb 2.9 percent next year as global demand grows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Uruguay’s credit rating outlook was raised to positive from stable in July by Fitch Ratings, citing in a report the South American country’s “strengthening macroeconomic policy framework.” Fitch rates Uruguay’s foreign debt BB-, or three levels below investment grade.
The country sold $500 million of bonds in September to help fund future expenses amid a rally in emerging market bonds. Prices for the bonds, due in 2025, have climbed 6.6 percent to 108.14 cents on the dollar since Sept. 22. The yield has fallen to 6.07 percent from 6.66 percent since the bonds were issued.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=atnamSlgGI9A
José Mujica
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Pepemujica2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica