1945-1967 since 1984







Uruguay 1967-1984


Administration and Domestic Policy . In 1967 Uruguay terminated the experiment of a collective presidency and reverted to a presidential democracy. In the early 1960es the Tupamaros, an urban guerilla movement, had begun a campaign aiming at destabilizing the government. From 1965 onward the US Office of Public Safety, intent on aiding the Uruguayan authorities in supressing the terrorists (Uruguay's Dirty War), trained the Uruguayan police in the use of torture. In 1968 martial law was declared. Tupamaro activity reached a climax in 1970-1971; the authorities arrested a large number of suspects. Many opponents of the government went into exile. The Tupamaros were defeated by 1972. In 1973 the military took over government in a coup. In 1980 the military authorities, in order to legitimize their status, presented a constitution to be approved by a referendum; it was rejected by 57.2 % of the voters. The military held on to political power until 1984, when massive demonstrations caused it to act. Democratic elections were held, and government transferred into civilian hands.

Foreign Policy . Uruguay pursued a policy of Anti-Communism, seeking the support of the U.S.A.

The Economy . In 1967 Uruguay suffered from the legacy of an excessive welfare state, import revenues which were drastically lower than those the country had enjoyed during and immediately after World War II, a massive trade deficit, high unemployment, rampant inflation, matters made worse by the costs of fighting the Tupamaro insurgency and by the rising oil price 1973 and following. The unemployment rate was 8.4 % in 1968, 8.9 % in 1973, 12.8 % in 1976, 7.3 % in 1980, 13.9 % in 1984 (IHS p.116). The amount of currency in circulation, since 1964, rose sharply - 3 billion Pesos in 1964, 6 billion in 1965, 10 billion in 1966, 19 billion in 1967, 31 billion in 1968, 50 billion in 1969, 121 billiob in 1972, 316 billion in 1974, 1.1 trillion in 1977, 5.1 trillion in 1980, 7.9 trillion in 1982 when a currency reform replaced 1000 old Pesos by 1 New Peso (IHS pp.641-642).

Cultural History . Uruguayan athletes participated in the Summer Olympic Games of Mexico City 1968, München 1972, Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984; Uruguay boycotted the 1980 Summer Games held in Moscow.
In 1980 Uruguay hosted an invitational tournament of national football teams, the Copa de Oro; invited were former world champions Argentina, Brazil, the FRG, Italy and two-time runner-up the Netherlands. Uruguay defeated Brazil in the final game 2-1 and won the cup.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		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
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
Article History of Uruguay : 20th Century, 1980 World Cup of Champions, Dan Mitrione, Jorge Pacheco Areco, Juan Maria Bordaberry, Alberto Demicheli, Aparicio Mendez, Gregorio Conrado Alvarez, Julio Maria Sanguinetti Coirolo, Tupamaros, Raul Sendic, Uruguay at the 1968 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 1976 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 1984 Summer Olympics, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE IHS : B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics : the Americas, NY : Palgrave MacMillan 5th edition 2003 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1967 p.791, 1968 p.795, 1969 pp.786-787, 1970 pp.785-786, 1971 pp.767-768, 1972 pp.721-722, 1973 pp.720-721, 1974 pp.716-718, 1975 p.723, 1976 p.722, 1977 p.723, 1978 p.721, 1979 p.723, 1980 p.721, 1981 p.718, 1982 pp.719-720, 1983 pp.719-720, 1984 p.719 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.1456-1462, 1973-1974 pp.1462-1468, 1975-1976 pp.1455-1460, 1976-1977 pp.1454-1460, 1978-1979 pp.1562-1567, 1979-1980 pp.1572-1578, 1980-1981 pp.1568-1573, 1981-1982 pp.1575-1581, 1982-1983 pp.1575-1581, 1983-1984 pp.1570-1575 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.155-156, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.155-156, 4th ed. 1984 pp.155-156 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Americana Annual 1967 pp.727-728, 1968 pp.722-724, 1969 pp.729-730, 1970 pp.730-731, 1971 pp.736-737, 1972 pp.395, 734-735, 1973 pp.732-733, 1974 pp.335-336, 643, 1975 p.590, 1976 p.584, 1977 p.541, 1978 p.534, 1979 p.536, 1980 p.545, 1981 p.566, 1983 p.549, 1984 p.551, [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on September 5th 2007

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