Leaders from the grouping which supports Uruguayan presidential hopeful Danilo Astori cautioned in Buenos Aires that if Senator Jose Mujica is nominated candidate next Sunday, the ruling coalition’s re-election chances could be impaired.
Three pollsters have virtually confirmed the winners of next Sunday’s primary presidential elections in Uruguay. The ruling coalition’s presidential hopeful Jose Mujica and Pedro Bordaberry from the small Partido Colorado have ample margins over their runner ups and can be anticipated to win by a landslide.
Safe deposit boxes in Uruguay are overflowing with US dollars from fearful Argentines concerned about the situation in their country and the results of Sunday’s mid term elections, according to banking sources in Montevideo.
The Uruguayan ruling coalition held Tuesday night a last joint rally before Sunday’s presidential nomination primary evoking the past and calling for unity behind the winning ticket. However one of the three hopefuls said that an agreement on program “contents” will have to be reached first.
Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle forecasted that Nestor Kirchner is going to be the main looser in next Sunday’s Argentine mid term elections, although he described the former Argentine president as “one of the best neighbours ever, for Uruguay’s interests”.
Uruguayan residents’ savings in overseas banks totalled 7.1 billion US dollars in the last quarter of 2008, which represents a slight drop from September 2008 but 14% over December 2006 (6.25 billion USD) according to the latest report from the Bank of International Settlements, BIS.
Uruguay’s imports again plummeted in May for the fifth month running, with the highest inter-annual negative rate, 41%, according to the latest data from the Central Bank released this week.
The World Bank estimates the Uruguayan economy will expand 0.8% this year and begin a gradual recovery in 2010 with growth reaching 2.3%. In spite of the poor 2009 estimate, it will be one of the highest of the region together with Peru, Panama, Bolivia, Belize and Guyana.
The possible merger between the leading Brazilian meat groups, Marfrig and JBS Bertin could create the largest corporation in the world and among other things dominate over 30% of the Uruguayan cattle demand market.
The dispute for Uruguay’s ruling coalition presidential nomination has spiralled to unexpected levels while a group of senior members try and work out a viable understanding between the leading hopefuls for the day after, when a unified Broad Front is essential to repeat victory in next October’s general election.