Uruguay Hunting
Dove Hunting in Uruguay
* In response to our clients, we have formed a new link on the website that provides a few factoids about to go on a Uruguay bird hunting trip. The hunting in Uruguay is excellent, but you know that…Los Gauchos can also organize other trips and excursions for those who are so inclined—so read up on a little history, and let us know if any of the other parts of the country strike your interest.
Military Rule in Uruguay 1974-1985
In 1973, an ugly situation reared its head between the country’s president and the military. The president at the time was named Bordaberry, and his selection of a defense minister who was not a man who wore the uniform (he was a civilian), angered Uruguayan military leaders. At the time, the military was proposing several social, military, and political changes be effected by Bordaberry—which resulted in a pact between the executive branch of the government and the country’s leading military officers.
The Lanza Pact
In the beginning of these negotiations, the Uruguayan Navy maintained its allegiance to the president, and it was only the Army and Air Force who were at loggerheads with Bordaberry. The Bosso Lanza Pact guaranteed the military leaders that they would be involved in all decision-making concerning the changing tides in Uruguay, and that their core officers would be offered advisory roles. The pact was a coup, because the military eventually pressured the president to enact the State Security Law—which was a form of martial law that stripped the ordinary citizen of his or her civil rights, and quelled subversives with torture and threats to keep quiet.
Now the country was under a de facto dictatorship, and the military and police forces had unlimited power to maintain what, in their opinion, was considered order. The new government was supported by one of the leading political parties (The Colorados), but the citizens felt differently, and there were several strikes and work stoppages in the factories that lasted for a few weeks.
The president and military leaders now maintain (similar to the Communists in the Soviet Union) that the rights of the people could no longer be honored if it endangered the very survival of the State—this was a strategy that these politicos adopted from their Brazilian neighbors in 1965. It was the South American version of Christians and Lions, pitting an “East / West” mentality between believers and non-believing communists.
Even Uruguay was not immune to the tornadic political winds of the 60’s and 70’s that rocked free and communist nations alike. These Brazilian and Uruguayan general saw themselves as icons of the people that would resist the corruption from rich politicians, and promised a better day for those that followed.
Like Argentina during this same period, many Uruguayans were kidnapped and/or killed, never to be seen or heard from again. Elections still took place, however, and Brodaberry was succeeded by Alberto Lizazo, who was the president of the Council of State before being elected as the most powerful man in Uruguay.
The military government did not last…they proposed many changes and divided Uruguay’s political parties severely. They ended up being defeated in the next elections by a narrow margin. This was good news, as Uruguay has been successful in emerging from the hole that the military government dug for them with an economy that is now the envy of every South American nation.
We hope that this little history lesson was valuable to you…but now back to the hunting in Uruguay! To see more Uruguay bird hunting, take a look at:
Uruguay...hunt, fish, enjoy....
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