Some 60,000 marched in Montevideo Oct. 22 against the "Vivir sin Miedo [8]" (Live Without Fear) campaign, an anti-crime initiative that will go before the voters in this week's national elections in Uruguay. The referendum, being pushed by Sen. Jorge Larrañaga of the right-wing National Party [9], would create a new military police force, the National Guard; allow security forces to carry out night raids; and impose mandatory life terms for serious crimes. The group Madres y Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos [10], made up of survivors of those "disappeared" during the years of military rule in Uruguay, issued a statement warning that approval of the initiative could be a step back toward dictatorship.
Incumbent President Tabaré Vázquez of the leftist Broad Front [11] is barred by term limits from re-election, and his party's candidate, former Montevideo mayor Daniel Martínez, is facing a tough challenge from the National Party's Luis Lacalle Pou, with polls anticipating a second round. The Broad Front is a coalition of leftist movements that in 2005 broke the long duopoly of the National and Colorado [12] parties, both formations of the right. Crime and insecurity have emerged as key issues in the race. (MercoPress [13], Nodal [14], BBC News [15], France24 [16], La Izquierda Diario [6], El Pais [17], Uruguay)