But I think we all saw this coming ...
Uruguay has voted in elections which pitted a left-wing ex-guerrilla leader against a former president - and the result too close to call. The winner will replace outgoing socia1ist President Tabare Vazquez.
Exit polls on Sunday suggested 74-year-old Mr Mujica had gained about 48% of votes, with Mr Lacalle trailing on around 30%. If the ruling party socia1ist cannot pass the 50% threshold, he will face a run-off against his conservative rival Luis Lacalle, the former president. A 29 November run-off would take place between the two frontrunners.
Mr Mujica, a senator of the governing left-wing Broad Front Party, was a former member of the rebel Tupamaros movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
| A former rebel? How romantic. |
He has pledged to remove the income tax imposed by President Vazquez and trim the size of government in the country of 3.4 million.
| Um? That sounds downright American-style conservative! Is he telling the truth? |
Mr Lacalle, famed for having survived an attempt to poison him - and other National Party leaders - with tainted wine in the 1970s, is a 68-year-old lawyer. During the election campaign, he sought to capitalise on concerns among some voters about his rival's militant past. Mr Lacalle has crafted a political comeback 14 years after leaving office when his senior aides were accused of corruption.
As well as presidential and congressional elections, voters also took part in a referendum. That will decide whether to revoke a law which gives immunity to former security officials accused of human rights abuses during Uruguay's period of military rule.
| Interesting times in Uruguay. How is Hugo Chavez sleeping these days? |
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