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Uruguay Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Uruguay
Official Name: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Capital: Montevideo
Area: 177,410 square kilometres ( 68,498 square miles )
Major cities (Population): Montevideo 1,326,000 (1995 estimate)
Population: 3,186,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 0.6 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 25 August 1828 (from Brazil)
Constitution: 27 November 1966, effective February 1967, suspended 27 June 1973; new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980.
Voting Rights: Universal and compulsory at age 18
Government
The executive branch of the government is headed by the president and vice-president. The bicameral General Assembly comprises a 30-member Chamber of Senators and a 99-member Chamber of Representatives. The president and both houses of the Assembly are elected at the same time for five-year terms. All citizens are required to vote from the age of 18.
Recent History
After Uruguay was granted independence in 1828, a civil war (1839–1851) and a war with Paraguay (1865–1870) were followed by 30 years of dictatorship, and rivalry between the Colorados (Reds) and the Blancos (Whites) that still continues to this day. In 1903 José Batllé y Ordóñez, the Colorado leader, was elected president. He dominated politics for the next 25 years, succeeded in creating a mixed economy, and introduced many social welfare improvements. This was a remarkable period of liberal government: Uruguay was the first South American country to give women the right to vote and was among the first to legalize divorce (1905). It was also the first to recognize the rights of trade unions. Batllé y Ordóñez served as president for the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution, and then succeeded in reducing the president’s powers in favour of a Council of National Administration, in which each of the two main parties was guaranteed at least one-third representation. After his death in 1929, a dual dictatorship took over, but in 1933 there was a coup, and opposition parties were excluded from the political process.
Democracy was restored in 1942 and lasted until 1973, when there was another coup. During nearly 12 years of military rule, widespread murder and abuse of human rights occurred. Elections were held in 1980 to decide whether the military should retain control of the government, but, when the vote went against the military, the military regime nullified the results and appointed General Gregorio Alvarez president in 1981.
Reforms during Alvarez’s tenure, such as the re-legalization of trade unions, paved the way for a general election in 1984. The military stepped down when the elected president, Julio María Sanguinetti, a Colorado, took office in 1985. Basic human rights were restored. To avoid clashes with the military, an amnesty was granted to personnel suspected of human-rights violations. In the 1989 elections Luis Alberto Lacalle, the leader of a Blanco faction and a strong believer in free-market reforms, was elected president. His reform programme met with considerable opposition, mainly because those employed in the large public sector were not keen to have their security threatened by privatization. Other problems faced by Lacalle were infighting among the Blancos and trouble with the military, which led him to replace the defence minister and army commander in chief. In the November 1994 elections, former president Julio Sanguinetti won another term in office.
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