Economic constraints and strategic choices: the case of the Frente Amplio of Uruguay’s first year in office

The article analyses the economic constraints and strategic choices that shaped the economic policies of the Frente Amplio of Uruguay’s first year in office. It argues that the economic strategy of the Frente Amplio’s administration can be described as the adoption, completion and correction of the incomplete free market reforms enacted by previous right of centre administrations and that this strategy can be explained as the product of two interrelated factors: first, a pragmatic compromise between partially conflicting visions of economic development; and, second, a political strategy that has sought to consider the demands of the different socio-political constituencies which make up the coalition.