Uruguay: Rights Abolished
Socialist Press1976 1976-09-08Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 3 →
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Uruguay's new President, Aparicio Mendez, (a civilian puppet of the military who seized power in 1973) has issued a decree which deprives all known left-wing political leaders of all political rights for life and also takes the same action against several hundred members of the two major right-wing bourgeois parties (the White and the Coloured Parties) for fifteen years.
One of these, ironically, is the deposed President Juan Marcia Bordaberry who jointly seized power with the military in 1973, having previously been elected to power in a rigged election against a popular front candidate. The military dropped him three months ago when he demanded the presidency for life.
In practice the new decree is no more than a formality since no one in Uruguay has had any political rights since the 1973 coup.
'But the measure is a sign of the political plans of the military dictatorship.
The present President is due to hold office until 1981 when there is due to be a presidential "election" with only one candidate. who must be a joint nominee of the White and Coloured Parties.
Then in 1986 they plan to permit a presidential election with two candidates. The military call all this a return to democratic civilian rule.
Since the military took power. they have exercased a ruthless regime of terror in which virtually all democratic and trade union rights have been eliminated and thousands of trade unionists and political militants imprisoned and tortured.
The police and security services have forged close links with the Chilean, Brazilian and more recently the Argentinian military and secret police.
Uruguay should not be overlooked in the struggle to build active solidarity in the British labour movement with the fight of workers in many South American states against murderous right-wing military dictatorships.
The Labour government most be forced to cease its friendly collaboration with these regimes.
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SOCIALIST Pi 'ESS, Wednesday 8th Sep mber 1971 Photo: Camden Chronicle. URKER ON