Yearbook 2006
Uruguay. According to
CountryAAH, a difficult diplomatic dispute with Argentina
dominated the year in Uruguay. It was the plans to build two
cellulose factories near the town of Fray Bentos on the
Uruguay border that caused protests in Argentina. Among
other things, environmental movements highlighted ecological
risks with the project and locals on the Argentine side
initiated a long-standing blockade of the border bridges
with devastating consequences for Uruguay's economy.
A minor political crisis hit the government when Finance
Minister Danilo Astori proposed a bilateral trade agreement
with the United States, which Foreign Minister Reinaldo
Gargano rejected. Also Brazil and Argentina, which together
with Uruguay are part of the South American free trade
organization Mercosur, said that a separate agreement with
the US would be in conflict with Mercosur's principles and
cause Uruguay's exclusion. The dissatisfaction with the
dominance of the two major countries within Mercosur has
been around for a long time.
President Tabaré Vázquez's relations with the military
were also strained. In September, eight former military and
police officers were brought to trial for human rights
violations during the military dictatorship 1973–85 despite
a current amnesty law. The following month, Vázquez
dismissed Army Chief Carlos Díaz because of a secret meeting
he held with opposition leader Julio María Sanguinetti, who
during his time as president introduced the amnesty law and
opposes it.
2002 Argentina's deep economic crisis spreads to Uruguay
In January 2002, 15,000 people from all over the country
went to the exclusive seaside resort of Punta del Este to
protest economic policy. The star demonstration paralyzed a
significant part of the country and some cities in the inner
part of the country. A number of public meetings were
conducted within the framework of the partial general strike
called for by the national organization PIT-CNT. The
government banned the demonstration from reaching the
seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast, and placed a
5-km-long iron ring around Punta del Este.
Uruguay had entered the third year of economic decline,
imposing a special duty of 20% on all goods from Argentina.
It was feared that the industry in Uruguay would not be able
to compete with Argentine industrial products after falling
50% as a result of the devaluation of the Argentine peso in
2002. In March, the IMF approved a loan of $ 443 million. US
$ to help Uruguay and to protect the country from the
economic collapse in Argentina. The economic program
referral projected a 1.7% decline in output, but also
forecast a 3% increase in 2003. Uruguay pledged to reduce
its budget deficit to 2.5% in 2002 and 1.5% in 2003, with
the perspective of balancing in 2004. Finally, the IMF
demanded that the government privatize the state monopolies
in energy, oil,
The Argentine judiciary confirmed on March 19 that a
young Argentinian was in fact Simón Riquelo, son of Sara
Méndez, a Uruguayan woman arrested under the Argentine
military dictatorship in the 1970's. The affidavit set the
stage for the 25-year search for the child who was removed
from the mother on the night of July 13, 1976, immediately
after being born. A large number of Uruguayans celebrated
the mother's reunion with her child. Méndez found that she
had not received any support from the Uruguayan state during
her long search for her child.
In April, Uruguay presented a condemning resolution of
Cuba due to the human rights situation in the country. The
resolution led to a serious deterioration in relations
between the two countries. The Cuban government in
particular attacked President Batlle, and it ended with the
severing of diplomatic relations. Despite the outbreak,
Habana continued to send free meningitis vaccine to Uruguaya
as promised after the outbreak of a minor epidemic.
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