1918-1945 1967-1984







Uruguay 1945-1970


In 1951, Uruguay adopted a new constitution based on the Swiss model, abolishing the office of president - the presidency had been violently fought over too often. The country had nine presidents - six from the ruling party, three from the opposition, the position of head of state rotating among the six government presidents (term 1 year), many decisions being taken by the collegium. The new system of a plural executive did not work as planned, as rival factions continued to intrigue; the system intended to balance power worked at times paralizing political power..
In 1967 the country reverted to a presidential democracy.

The Uruguayan WELFARE STATE in the 1960es was characterized by "a 44-hour-week, mandatory severance pay, twenty days paid vacation, family allowances, a minimum wage, workmen's compensation, unemployment insurance, free compulsory education, low-cost housing, disability and old-age pensions of excessive generosity" (Gunther 1966 p.232).
The economy, in the early years after the war profiting from Europe's demand for agricultural products, soon found itself in a crisis, inflation picked up, amounting to 9,000 % over the period 1955-1970, unemployment became a serious problem. In the 1920es Latin America's model economy, Uruguay in the late 1950es and 1960es performed badly economically - the agricultural exports it depended upon (beef, wool) declined as western Europe's agriculture recovered from wartime damage.
The TUPAMAROS, a radical Marxist group of urban guerilleros, became a serious threat to public security.


In 1950, Uruguay won her second soccer world cup by defeating Brazil in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium in the final, 2-1. Television broadcasts began in 1956.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from infoplease : Uruguay
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Uruguay
Uruguay : Welfare State gone wild, from Henry Hazlitt Foundation, collection of observations on the Uruguayan welfare state 1956-1969
Pagina del Uruguay from Tr.E.U. Sina
Links to Uruguay's history from about.com , from looksmart and from latinoconnect
Uruguay 1964-1970. Torture - as American as Apple Pie, from William Blum, Killing Hope, U.S. interventions in the Third World, posted by Third World Traveller
Uruguay, in : Kenneth Janda, Political Parties : A Cross-National Survey
DOCUMENTS Constitution of 1966, from Political Database of the Americas, at Georgetown, in Spanish
Coins of Uruguay, from Uruguay Coins Collection Page
REFERENCE Uruguay on the Rocks, from : John Gunther, Inside South America, NY : Harper & Row 1966, pp.220-237
Article : Uruguay, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946 p.793-794, 1947 p.798, 1948 p.771, 1949 pp.661-662, 1950 p.712, 1951 pp.716-717, 1952 pp.716-717, 1953 p.726, 1954 p.728, 1955 p.788, 1956 p.725, 1957 p.788, 1958 pp.728-729, 1959 pp.727-728, 1960 p.727, 1961 pp.728-729, 1962 pp.718-719, 1963 pp.833-834, 1964 p.852, 1965 pp.851-852, 1966 pp.794-795, 1967 p.791 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1961-1962 pp.1545-1542 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.743-745, 1957 pp.815-817, 1958 pp.806-807, 1959 pp.800-801, 1960 pp.807-808, 1961 pp.799-800, 1962 pp.807-808, 1963 pp.717-718, 1964 pp.701-702, 1965 pp.727-728, 1966 pp.721-722, 1967 pp.727-728 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on September 28th 2007

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