General elections to elect a President and Parliament were held in Uruguay on 31 October 2004 alongside a simultaneous constitutional referendum.In the presidential election, Tabaré Vázquez won comfortably, beating his closest rival, Jorge Larrañaga, by over 16 percentage points.Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas ; born January 17, 1940) is a former President of Uruguay. A physician (oncologist) by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition (Broad Front in English). Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010. As president, Vázquez presided over considerable improvements in education and working conditions, a significant expansion of the welfare system,and a dramatic reduction in poverty, with the percentage of Uruguayans living in poverty falling from 32% to 20% of the population from 2004 to 2009.