LATEST UPDATE: DECEMBER 1996
The last general elections-in November 1994-resulted in a virtual three-way tie. The Colorado Party was declared the winner-President Julio Mario Sanguinetti took office in March 1995-but with only 32.3 per cent of the vote. The other traditional non-ideological party, the Blancos Party, took 31.1 per cent, and the left-wing Frente Amplio (FA, Broad Front) 30.8 per cent. Sanguinetti formed a full coalition embracing all factions of the Blancos as well as all factions of his own. Although criticisms have been made from inside both parties, the coalition has functioned with considerable success. During 1995 the ruling coalition in congress approved three far-reaching reforms: an emergency fiscal package, law and order measures, and a reform of social security. Compared with previous administrations, including Sanguinetti's own (1985-90), this is a major achievement. It is due partly to the urgency of reform and partly to the belief that by 1996 the coalition will be weakening as parties look to the 1999 elections. The political agenda for 1996 will be dominated by economic developments. The economy is in recession. It is estimated that the economy contracted by 2 per cent of gross domestic product in 1995. This contrasts with growth averaging 4.6 per cent during the early 1990s. Although inflation is still high, it fell from 44 per cent in 1994 to 35.5 per cent in 1995. Unemployment now stands at 10.2 per cent.
Uruguay has no tradition of official antisemitism. However, on several occasions during the first half of the twentieth century, government actions indicated anti-Jewish attitudes.
In January 1919 several hundred workers, many of them of Jewish origin, were arrested and charged with "subversive" activities; all of them were released within a month. By the end of the 1930s there were several incidents of Jewish refugees from Central Europe being refused entry at the port of Montevideo.
In the early 1960s left-wing Jews and non-Jews in Montevideo were attacked with razor blades and marked with swastikas. Those responsible were never identified.
During the military dictatorship of 1973-84 several political prisoners of Jewish origin suffered more severe torture than others, though this does not seem to have been a systematic policy of the authorities.
In December 1990 the Uruguayan public was shocked when a lone gunman attacked members of the Jewish community, leaving two dead and three severely injured. The perpetrator, a neo-fascist supporter, remains in prison under special security measures.
The 1990 and 1992 desecrations of the La Paz Jewish cemetery of Montevideo remain unresolved.
Issues concerned with racism and xenophobia were not generally the subject of public discussion during 1995. Nevertheless, there appears to be an increasing awareness of the underlying racism against the country's indigenous population, which is marginalized from the labour market. There was public debate on the country's asylum laws during 1995, owing to the presence of about twenty members of the Argentine military, known as Carapintadas. These Carapintadas escaped prosecution in Argentina, for allegedly participating in the armed uprisings against former Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín, by claiming asylum in Uruguay. The courts have granted them the right to stay as tourists, without conceding political asylum. Government officials have indicated their wish to revise existing treaties with Argentina.
The far-right Alianza Libertadora Nacionalista (ALN, National Liberator Alliance) espouses a xenophobic ideology. It boasts only a handful of members, enjoys virtually no popular support and disappeared from the public arena during the last months of 1995.
In 1995 the only reported incident was the unfurling of a hand-painted flag showing a swastika during a second-division football match.
Several newspaper stands in Montevideo have been selling Spanish comic books that use Nazi symbolism to attract readers' attention.
In February the daily La República published an opinion poll on racism based on 318 interviews in Montevideo. Although the results can hardly be described as scientific, they do provide an insight into the levels of racism within Uruguayan society. More than 75 per cent of those interviewed believed racism existed in the country, although only 11 per cent thought this to be important. Those believed to be the subject of discrimination include blacks (62.6 per cent), Jews (37.7 per cent) and Roma (13.8 per cent). In relation to blacks, 45 per cent of those interviewed believe "others" were responsible for this discrimination, while 11 per cent believe that blame lies with the blacks and 14.5 per cent affirmed that both groups had equal responsibility. In the case of Jews, 23.6 per cent believed responsibility for discrimination lay with "others", while 23.3 per cent blamed Jews themselves, and 10.7 per cent shared responsibility equally.
In 1995, as previously, antisemitism appears to pose a marginal threat to the Jewish community, whose activities receive positive press coverage. Public opinion appeared to express sympathy and solidarity with the community following the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
A Holocaust memorial was opened to the public in Montevideo in November 1994. A commemoration marking the first anniversary of the memorial was held in 1995. President Sanguinetti declared it part of the "historical heritage of the nation". The event was widely covered by the local press.
Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee
© JPR 1996
