Uruguayans vote on security reform in general election

Polls opened in Uruguay Sunday with voters electing a successor to leftist President Tabare Vazquez and deciding on constitutional reforms including the establishment of a military police force.

Uruguayans will also be electing all 99 deputies and 30 senators in the Congress.

The vote comes on the same day as a general election in Argentina and against a backdrop of regional strife following massive street protests in Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia, the latter over alleged electoral fraud.

"Democracy in Uruguay is very strong and must be protected," Vazquez said Thursday in his final message before voting began.

Uruguay has long been considered a bastion of peace and stability in an often turbulent region but security has been declining, with a sharp rise in some violent crimes reported last year.

In 2018, South America's second-smallest country registered a record 414 murders, up 45 percent on the year before.

The alarming hike fueled a debate over proposed constitutional changes meant ..