Essay On Civil Rights In Uruguay

In 1973, democracy in Uruguay gave way to a twelve-yearlong military dictatorship. During this dictatorship, all citizens, directly and indirectly, experienced human rights abuses. Not only were civil liberties suspended, many citizens were kidnapped, arrested, and tortured on the supposition of being dissenters of the regime. Many Uruguayan citizens were “disappeared” by the military, and their whereabouts were unknown even after the return to democracy. The military was ubiquitous and omnipotent, and those who were not apprehended lived in constant fear of arrest. During the military’s reign, 300,000-400,000 Uruguayans were forced into exile, one in every fifty of the remaining citizens were detained, and every citizen of Uruguay lost their democratic rights. Ironically, prior to the military coup, Uruguay was hailed as one of the most democratic nations in the world, an “oasis …show more content…
Bordaberry ran against Wilson Ferreira, who won the most votes of all the candidates; however, Bordaberry, due to some maneuvers with the votes and a blind eye on the part of his party, tipped the election in his favor. During the transfer of power, Bordaberry and Pacheco were even more aggressive in their suspension of civil rights. In 1972, in response to these suspensions, unions in Uruguay launched a strike, in which the Tupamaros played an important role. Bordaberry declared a state of war and ordered the military to suppress the insurgency. The military arrested many of the Tupamaros until they were no longer an effective entity. Even though the Tupamaros had been disciplined, the military decided to take action on the Tupamaros’ supporters. In 1973, Bordaberry suspended the remaining constitutional rights of the people, and a couple of weeks later, the military itself suspended Congress and enacted a Supreme Military Council, completing the military coup d’état (Weschler 1990,