Among the 11 presidential candidates for the 27 October elections in Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi, the opposition Frente Amplio’s standard-bearer, is the one to whom polls currently give the most votes.

Orsi was born 57 years ago in Canelones, the second most populated department in the country, which shows the two sides of contemporary Uruguay, between the countryside and the city.

As a child and young man, he shared his studies with his parents’ small village bodega. From those years his taste for folk music and dances.

He graduated as a history teacher, a subject he taught in schools in several towns and cities in the interior of the country.

Some of those students were part of his government cabinet in the Intendencia de Canelones.

Yamandú served for a decade as secretary general of the departmental government and was later elected mayor. In 2020, he renewed his mandate with the support of 60 percent of the electorate.

Before that, after the end of the dictatorship, he began his militancy in the Frente Amplio (FA).

In 1989, he joined the Movement for Popular Participation (MPP), which ran him in the FA’s internal elections and was the most voted FA sector last June.

The FA candidate is well ahead of the rest of his rivals, according to the latest polls.

But he will have to obtain 50 per cent plus one of the votes to be proclaimed president-elect on Sunday.

The vast majority of polls point to a second round.

At his massive campaign closing rally, Yamoussou promised to fulfil five key pledges if he wins the election.

«Always engage in dialogue», both with society, business and the various political actors.

The second was to generate «economic growth and stability».

At the same time, the necessary social protection and welfare, because «growth is possible if society moves forward».

This third commitment means that there will not be so many people on the streets, «which today exceed three thousand», said Orsi.

Fourthly, he said he would «take charge» of security: «It is clear that we have to be very tough on crime and the causes of crime,» he said on the issue that most worries his compatriots.

Finally, he alluded to his campaign slogan: «Let honesty and decency rule. There can be nothing to hide, nothing to sweep under the carpet,» he concluded.