Former guerrilla favored to win Uruguay election

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - A former guerrilla fighter is poised on Sunday to become the next president of Uruguay, pledging to maintain the ruling leftist coalition's moderate policies in one of Latin America's most stable economies.

Jose Mujica, 74, who waged an armed revolt against a democratically elected government in the 1960s and 1970s and was jailed for 14 years, has at least a 6-point lead in polls over his center-right rival, former President Luis Lacalle.

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 expand for six straight years.

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

Mujica won the most votes in the election's first round on October 25, finishing with 48 percent to 29 percent for Lacalle, and falling just short of the outright majority needed to avoid a second round. The winner in the runoff assumes office on March 1 for a five-year term.

Lacalle has raised questions about Mujica's militant past, suggesting his opponent would be a more radical leader than he has portrayed himself in the campaign.

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.

Lacalle, a 68-year-old lawyer from the National Party who governed from 1990 to 1995, has said he too would leave economic policy intact. He has pledged to fight crime, lower income taxes and reduce the size of government.

Former President Pedro Bordaberry, who finished third in the initial round, has thrown his support behind Lacalle, whose candidacy marks a comeback after his presidential term ended with corruption accusations involving several top aides.

But Vazquez's handling of the economy has given a boost to Mujica, even though he is politically to the left of the current Uruguayan leader.

EX-TUPAMARO GUERRILLA

Mujica was once a member of the Tupamaros Marxist guerrilla movement that sought to weaken Uruguay's conservative government during the turbulent 1960s and '70s through robberies, political kidnappings and bombings.

He said he was shot six times and at one point held by security forces in solitary confinement in a deep well. He was imprisoned during most of Uruguay's 1973-85 military dictatorship.

The Tupamaros later transformed into a political party and joined with socialists and other leftist parties to create the Broad Front coalition, which took power in 2005 during South America's political shift to the left.

Mujica, who is popular with the Uruguayan poor and working class, is lauded by many of his supporters and eyed with caution by critics for being outspoken and blunt.

"I like the fact he speaks his mind even though I don't always agree with him," said Maria Noel Gonzalez, a 24-year-old cook and Mujica supporter.

He has said his running mate, Danilo Astori, Vazquez's former economy minister, will be responsible for economic policy. Astori won praise from Wall Street for his guidance of the largely agricultural-based economy.

Under Vazquez, economic growth averaged more than 7 percent a year since 2005 and is expected to reach 1.2 percent in 2009, led by beef exports.

"Making sure the economy stays on track will be one of our top priorities," Mujica told reporters before the vote.

(Additional reporting by Conrado Hornos and Patricia Avila; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bill Trott)