Blogger Randy Paul from Beautiful Horizons has a welcome perspective on Uruguay and its new president, Tabare Vazquez, a leftist, whose party is unpromisingly identified on the radio here as a collection of ‘communists, socialists and tupamaro guerrillas.’

Understandably, Vazquez is a cause for alarm to some – even some Uruguayans. But Randy checked around, and so did I, and the most likely outcome is Vazquez will be a pragmatist – more Lula than Chavez. Randy outlines several interesting reasons why.

Randy’s Uruguay analysis isn’t firsthand but he’s got a good feel for much of the region and his take on this important subject is worth reading here.

UPDATE: Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald has an excellent piece saying something similar – his thesis is all these Uruguays will actually contribute to the development of a responsible left, quite different from what we have seen in the past. He makes some important, little-noted points.