What do you know about Uruguay?
Where is it located? What kind of language, people and products does it have?
Here is an article by Alfredo F. de Mello, a Writer and Historian from Montevideo, Uruguay. (Written on January 2000 for a London Magazine).
He is also the author of two books about Columbus: one in Spanish entitled El Verdadero Colon", and another in English entitled "Columbus is a Misnomer".
In both books Alfred de Mello defends the
thesis that the navigator was Portuguese. He has sent me a monograph in English
about his latest book. Within a few
days I will place it on my website. Be on the alert!
I laughed stentoreously. Finally a know-it-all gent blurted
“ I bet it is a banana republic in Central America”.....
I
cut them short and said: “We have no bananas, as the climate is too
temperate...Well, if you want to know, Uruguay is the smallest country in South
America, wedged in between Brazil and Argentina”.
“How
interesting!” said the lady. “Do you live in adobe houses?”.... "No
ma’am, there are no adoble dwellings, you must be thinking of some villages in
Mexico..."
The gent from Omaha asked: “You have a lot of Indians don’t you?” "No, they were all killed off around 1830. The population consists of immigrants of the Mediterranean type, originating mostly from Spain, Italy, with a sprinkling of English, German, French, Polish, Armenians, Lithuanians, etc. The jewish sector, who fled from Europe before WWII and later, constitute two percent of the population – a very poweful , and rich community – and of course, there are less than 2% of Negroes, all descendants of slaves, who are in the lowest rung of society."
Map
of Uruguay click
on map for larger view
Note that Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, is
closer
to the South Pole than Buenos Aires,
capital of Argentina.
Colonial Period
Juan
Diaz de Solis, an experienced Portuguese pilot – he had sailed with Cabral in
1500, discovering Brazil, and then sailing on around the Cape of Good Hope to
India on an avenging foray against Calicut
- had the misfortune to be cuckolded during his absence. Upon his return
he murdered his adulterous wife. He was scheduled to captain Albuquerque’s
vessel in 1506 en route to India, but he fled from the hands of Justice, seeking
refuge in Spain.
Nevertheless,
as no mineral wealth was found, the Spaniards went on to settle in flat damp
Buenos Aires, some 200 km upriver on the southern bank of the wide River Plate
estuary. Later on Buenos Aires, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la
Plata, encompassing Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay .
The
river Uruguay, which flows into the River Plate, constitutes the dividing line
of this province, separating it from Argentina proper.
The
Banda Oriental del Uruguay (the east bank of the Uruguay River) became a
tremendous unfenced pasture where wild cattle practically roamed freely.
Hernando Arias, Spanish governor of the Rio de la Plata, introduced cattle in
Uruguay in 1602, and this explains why Uruguay has 12 million head of cattle, 4
million horses, 26 million sheep versus a population of 3.3 million, living in a
territory of 187,000 square kilometres -
bigger than Switzerland,
Holland, Belgium and Denmark put together -
with a density of population of 16 per square kilometer.
Portuguese
Colony
In
1680 the Portuguese established the Colónia do Sacramento,
- a model of a colonial garrison town, which since 1990 is a world
heritage site decreed by the United Nations –on the Rio de la Plata, opposite
Buenos Aires where the river is 40 km wide.
In
order to counteract Portuguese
influence, the Spanish set up Montevideo (177 km further east where the estuary
is 200 km. wide) in 1723, founded by Viceroy D. Bruno de Zabala, as a garrison
town and drove the Portuguese back. This exemplified the colonial period, which
was marked by a prolonged struggle between the Spaniards of Argentina, and the
Portuguese of Brazil.
Montevideo
was the site of a Spanish naval installation as part of the Spanish Viceroyalty,
strategically situated at the mouth of the River Plate.
England
coveted this territory with a wide estuary, and with the mighty rivers Uruguay
and Parana, leading into the heart of the continent. The British fleet prepared
for invading was however badly mauled in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) where
Nelson died but beat Napoleon’s fleet. Nonetheless the English invaded twice
in 1806 – 1808 but were driven back, much to the lament of W.H.Hudson , better
known as author of “The Green Mansions”, who lived briefly in Uruguay and
wrote in 1885 “The Purple Land that England lost”.
Wars
of Independence.
Buenos
Aires gained its independence from Spain in 1810, and in 1811, José Artigas, a
creole born in the hinterland, led an armed insurrection against Montevideo.
Spanish authority was challenged and unresolved colonial problems were brought
to the fore.
The
“estancieros” ( ranchers) were joined in revolt by the “gauchos”
(cowboys), the peons and the slaves. Artigas proposed a plan for a republican
federation of the Rio de la Plata territories and a democratization of rural
life based on advance social principles.
The
Buenos Aires oligarchy, realizing how Artigas’ proposals would affect them
decided to crush his growing power; their forces defeated him in 1816, ending
the first manifestation of Uruguayan autonomous government. Artigas went into
exile in Paraguay. Meanwhile, Montevideo sustained a new invasion: the
Portuguese-Brazilian occupation (1817-1828).
In
1825 Juan Antonio Lavalleja and his supporters ( known as the
33 Orientales) formed an Army with Argentine help and defeated the
Brazilians at Ituzaingo (February 20, 1827).
On
August 27, 1828 there was a preliminary peace pact with Brazil – which itself
had emancipated from Portuguese rule in 1822
- recognizing Uruguay’s independence, with the blessings of England who
wanted a wedge State, making the River Plate an international waterway.
Called
Orientals
On
July 18, 1830 a Constitution for the new nation was approved. The official name
was Republica Oriental del Uruguay,
and oddly enough the people of Uruguay are called “orientales” ( orientals).
In fact the national anthem starts with an imperative command:
”Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!” (Orientals, the Fatherland or the
grave!)
Uruguay
had scarcely 74,000 inhabitants; its main economic resources, livestock and
land, were concentrated in the hands of a few families who had acquired economic
empires in the countryside during the colonial period.
The
first two decades of independence were a time of testing. There were frequent
uprisings in the interior, and, in the urban areas, opposing factions grew
around their leaders Fructuoso Rivera and Manuel Oribe. The colours used by each
faction gave rise to the names of Uruguay’s main political parties: red
or Colorado for Rivera’s group,and white or Blanco for Oribe’s.
The
Charrua Indians who had helped the creoles in their battles for independence,
were summoned by Rivera for a big jamboree. They were treacherously ambushed and
exterminated. Today there are less than 300 Charruas, a vanishing race.
The
sixty years that followed can briefly be described as a continuous civil war.
Between 1839-51 foreign powers intervened: Argentina on the side of the Blancos,
England and France backing the Colorados.
At
the perfidious instigation of England who wanted unfettered naval access to the
hinterland of South America, a triple Alliance was forged between Argentina,
Brazil and Uruguay which waged a war against Paraguay ( 1865-70) decimating that
flourishing country.
In
Uruguay the civil wars continued until 1904, thereby deserving the appelation of
“Purple Land” for the blood shed during these inconsequential skirmishes
without losers or victors.
In
spite of this era of turbulence, in the 1870s Jose Pedro Varela, Minister of
Education introduced free and obligatory schooling up to the age of 16, and thus
Uruguay has less than 6% of illiterate persons for more than a century.
Pacification
of the rural areas permitted advances in stock breeding. Capitalist development
and internal stability continued under the governments of Maximo Santos, and
Maximo Tajes ( 1880-1890).
New
Immigration
The
population, as a result of immigration from Mediterranean Europe, more than
doubled during the last quarter of the 19th century, rising from
450,000 in 1875 to about a million in 1900. The adoption of new fiscal policies
and the development of transportation and communication facilities (railroads
and telegraphs) stimulated foreign loans and investment, usually of British
origin. The tramways , waterworks and gas company were all owned by the British.
Welfare
State.
At
the dawn of the 20th century the president elected in 1903, the
Colorado leader José Batlle, turned out to be an eminent statesman. Peace was
restored between the two parties, and a reorganization of the political parties
took place, marking the beginning of a long period of internal peace and orderly
government for Uruguay.
From
1904 until his death in 1929 José Batlle dominated the political scene. Twice
president of the republic (1903-07), and (1911-1915)
he designed landmark reform programs. Administrative reforms included the
creation of a Supreme Court of Justice, greater municipal autonomy and the
creation of more public services.
Switzerland
of the Americas.
Social
reforms included the removal of public education from the control of the
Catholic Church, the extension of free education
on the secondary and university levels, a reform of the university system,and
the separation of the Church and State (unique in South America). Advanced
labour legislation that was passed included the right to strike, an 8-hour
workday, and obligatory yearly paid 2-week vacations for all workers, obligatory
accident insurance, and women allowed to vote in elections (the first in the
Americas).
During
the two World Wars, the economy flourished with the exports boom
- wool, beef, punctuated by
a decline of the economy during the Great Depression ((1933-39).
Domestic production and
consumption of manufactured goods increased. From 1940 through the Korean War,
Uruguay was known as the Switzerland of the Americas.
Soccer
world champions
Uruguayans
have three passions: football, democracy and sipping maté tea.In
football (soccer) they excelled,
having been the Olympic champions of 1924, 1928, and then winning the World Cup
in 1930. Once again in 1950, World Cup (soccer)
champions in a great match against unbeatable Brazil.
Stardom as a national team faded as this sport required huge amounts of
money. Nonetheless outstanding individual players are bought by the world’s
best teams.
Cold
War Crisis
The
economic crisis in the late fifties onwards incubated the Tupamaro urban
guerilla movement, whose widespread terrorist activities were instrumental in
bringing the military dictatorship in 1973 through 1984. Uruguay earned the
reputation of having the highest ratio of political prisoners to population in
the world. Actually, the bloody dictatorships in South America
were a direct consequence of the Cold War. Aided and abetted by the
Nixon-Kissinger administration, supposedly to contain the Cuban virus, the
epidemy spread throughout the sixties and seventies in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile,
Argentina, Peru and Central America.
However
the return to democracy was not through armed insurrection. The plebiscite for a
new Constitution tailored for the continuation of military power was an
astoundintg defeat for the despised dictators. In November 1984 voters returned
a civilian government to power. Human rights were restored, censorship lifted
and political exiles allowed to return. However, the granting of general amnesty
to the former military régime stirred a wave of dissent.
Until
1970 the Colorados and Blancos garnered 90% of the votes, and the rest was split
between the Socialist, Catholics, Communists and Independents. Since then a
Coalition of the Left was formed, and in three elections ( 1984, 1989, 1994) it
steadily grew to 34%.
Fearing
the increase of this Frente Amplio
( Broad Front) especially among the young generations, the two traditional
parties rammed through a change in the electoral law, making it mandatory for
the winner to have at least 50% plus one of the votes. If this was not achieved
in the first round, then there would be
a run-off between the two most voted candidates. On the 31st October
last, the Frente Amplio got 40% of the votes, whereas the Colorados and Balncos
won 31% and 21% respectively. Four weeks later the two traditional adversaries
formed a shaky coalition, and won the elections by 51.8% versus 45.6%
No
longer Switzerland ...
Uruguay
is no longer the Switzerland of the Americas. However it continues to be a
reliable, safe, banking centre, and geared to the tourist industry, Punta del
Este being by far the swankiest and most beautiful beach resort of all Latin
America. Jet setters like Ivana Trump, Catherine Deneuve, Julio Iglesias have
dropped by in this watering hole
this summer.
In
this age of globalization which can be deeply disruptive, Uruguay, a
predominantly middle class society, is adjusting to technological advances, and
the mirages of the Market, exporting software, and are computer savvy, with five
times more computers per capita than the rest of Latin America.
National beverage- Maté
Maté,
a tealike beverage, brewed from the
dried leaves of an evergreen shrub which grows only in Paraguay and Brazil, is a
stimulating drink, containing caffeine and tannin and less astringent than tea.
With the thermos flask cuddled in their left elbow,and sipping maté tea
from the gourd through a bombilla,
a silver “straw”, held in their right hand, they muse on the right to dream,
the right which allows us to go forth , on the capacity to dream of a different
reality, an eternal challenge...
Does
dreaming of utopia serve any purpose?
Utopia lies in the horizon, and when one walks three steps, the horizon
recedes three steps; and if one walks a further five steps, the horizon moves
again another five steps away; however,
this is what the dream of utopia is good for, in spite of one
never reaching it. It serves to walk ahead into the future. The road to a
lulled well-being lies in tranquilly sipping
maté!...