Weekly Report - 9 December 2003

The 7 December referendum on Uruguay's state oil company Ancap (WR-03-45) was a resounding victory for the leftist Encuentro Progresista-Frente Amplio (EP-FA) which, no longer coy, is portraying the 62% `yes' vote as having gone beyond its stated aim — repealing the law that lifted Ancap's monopoly and allowed it to enter a 30-year partnership with a private partner — to become a `punishment vote' against the government's economic policies. Turnout, at 83%, has been described as low because voting is mandatory in Uruguay. Nonetheless, the fact that only 36% actually voted against repealing the law clearly shows which way public sentiment has tilted.