Former left-wing guerrilla fighter Jose Mujica finished first in Uruguay's presidential election but faces a run-off against a conservative to steer one of Latin America's most stable economies, official results showed on Monday. With ballots counted at nearly 95 percent of voting stations, Mujica, a 74-year-old senator who was jailed during Uruguay's 1973-85 military dictatorship, had 47.15 percent support compared to 28.76 percent for former center-right president Luis Lacalle.
Another rightist candidate, Pedro Bordaberry, was third with 16.8 percent. The outcome sets up a run-off on November 29 after neither of the top two candidates won more than half the vote. One recent poll showed Mujica would likely win a run-off, but Bordaberry, the son of a former president, has said he will throw his support behind Lacalle in the next round. "Uruguayans are asking us for one more push. We're on our way to victory. We're going to have to fight," Mujica told thousands of flag-waving supporters on Sunday night.
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