Uruguay also saw social unrest, but on a smaller scale than in Argentina, and a political crisis led to the sacking of part of President Battle’s economic team but not to the resignation of the president himself. These missions, which began in 2003, were intended to satisfy the unmet needs of low-income sectors not covered by social policies. The programmes were introduced at a time of intense polarization, the most stark manifestations of which were the April 2002 attempted coup d’etat, the shutdown of the oil sector in December of that year and the August 2004 referendum.