1967-1984







Uruguay since 1984


Administration and Domestic Policy . The presidency was held by Julio Maria Sanguinetti (Colorado) 1985-1989, by Luis Alberto Lacalle (Blanco) 1990-1995, Julio Maria Sanguinetti (Colorado) 1995-2000, by Jorge Batlle (Colorado) 2000-2005, by Tabare Vasquez since 2005. Both the Colorado and Blanco administrations pursued a policy of opening up the national economy, and in 2000-2002 cooperated. A 1999 constitutional reform changed the rules for the election of the president. Uruguay, since 1984, is a functioning democracy; the military remained in the barracks.

Foreign Policy . The deescalation of the Cold War in the 1980es allowed for the transition of countries like Uruguay to democracy, as the U.S. administration spent less money and attention on fighting anti-Communism. From 1986 to 1994 negotiations were held, at first in Puntas del Este (Uruguay), which transformed GATT into WTO; they are called the Uruguay Round. Uruguay joined MERCOSUR in 1991.
Uruguay did not partake in Operation Desert Storm (Kuwait 1991) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan 2001), did not join the Coalition of the Willing (Iraq 2003).

The Economy . The termination of military rule and the policy of economic reforms did not immediately solve the country's economic problems. The curency in circulation continued to rise at a rate causing concern : 12.1 billion Pesos in 1984, 23.3 billion in 1985, 43.0 billion in 1986, 76.3 billion in 1987, 125 billion in 1988, 219 billion in 1989, 420 billion in 1990, 851 billion in 1991, 1.4 trillion in 1992, 2.3 trillion in 1993; a stabilization was only reached in 1998-2000 at over 7 trillion (IHS p.642). Unemployment declined from 13 % in 1985 to 8 % in 1989, but increased slightly from then.
Uruguay's economy continued to be highly dependent on the export of agricultural products such as beef and wheat. Thus Uruguay strongly supported GATT / the WTO, in the hope of entering protected markets. Progress in this area was slower than Uruguay had hoped, and in the early 2000es the country's economic recovery was negatively affected by a drop in the prices of Uruguay's major export items. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth-disease in Uruguay in 1999 already had affected exports of beef; Uruguay was able to avoid the economic meltdown neighbour Argentina went through in 1999-2002. Now the government found itself under pressure to return to a policy of welfare state and protectionist legislation. Since, Uruguay pursues a policy of cautiously supporting a free market.

Social History . The census of 1985 counted 2.955 million Uruguayans; the census of 1996 3.163 million; the estimate for 2007 is 3.460 million.

Cultural History . Uruguayan athletes participated in the Summer Olympic Games of Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, Athens 2004. In Sydney 2000 cyclist Milton Wynants won a silver medal.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Library of Congress, Country Studies : Uruguay
Article History of Uruguay : 20th Century, Uruguay Round, Julio Maria Sanguinetti Coirolo, Luis Alberto Lacalle, Jorge Batlle, Tabare Vasquez, Uruguay at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Uruguay at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Economy of Uruguay, Colorado Party (Uruguay), National Party (Uruguay), from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS Historical Population Statistics : Uruguay, from Population Statistics, by Jan Lahmeyer
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 1985 pp.588, 808, 1986 pp.587-588, 808, 1987 pp.556, 776, 1988 pp.509, 728, 1989 pp.510, 728, 1990 pp.526, 744, 1991 pp.510, 729, 1992 pp.483, 729, 1993 pp.491, 745, 1994 pp.491, 745, 1995 pp.501, 745, 1996 pp.499, 745, 1997 pp.500, 743, 2002 pp.519, 760 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1984-1985 pp.1566-1571, 1985-1986 pp.1563-1568, 1986-1987 pp.1563-1568, 1987-1988 pp.1566-1570, 1988-1989 pp.1569-1573, 1989-1990 pp.1565-1569, 1990-1991 pp.1567-1571, 1991-1992 pp.1565-1569, 1992-1993 pp.1576-1579, 1993-1994 pp.1579-1583, 1994-1995 pp.1580-1584, 1995-1996 pp.1571-1575, 1996-1997 pp.1564-1568, 1997-1998 pp.1574-1578, 1998-1999 pp.1710-1715, 2000 pp.1913-1918, 2001 pp.1875-1879, 2002 pp.1941-1946, 2003 pp.1945-1950, 2004 pp.1966-1971, 2005 pp.1979-1984, 2006 pp.1979-1985 [G]
Entry : Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Cabinet pp.105-106, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Uruguay, in : Americana Annual 1985 p.554, 1986 p.554, 1987 p.559, 1988 p.559, 1989 p.565, 1990 p.550, 1992 p.558, 1993 p.562, 1994 p.563, 1995 p.549 [G]
Entry : Uruguay, pp.1034-1039 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on September 6th 2007

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