estrutura produtiva, ciclo polÍtico e desigualdade: o caso de uruguai, 2004-2011

The electoral victory of the Frente Amplio (FA) in Uruguay in October, 2004, apparently represen- ted a break with the economic policies that had been implemented till then. Those policies were indeed the same that lead the country to its deepest economic crisis between 1999 and 2002. In this article, we analyse the process triggered by those reforms, considering the evolution of the economic structure, the changes in the primary distribution of income and finally the impact on the secondary distribution of income and on poverty. We conclude that the break has been more than apparent in terms of social policies, reducing the- reby inequality. However, and although we acknowledge that the span of time is still not too long, we conclude also that the changes in the productive structure are much weaker, thus jeopardizing the previous achievements when faced with worse economic conditions.