Past ghosts haunt Uruguay still, by Roberto López Belloso & Daniel Gatti (Le Monde diplomatique

Twelve trays on the dark earth marked where skeletal remains were found on the 14th Parachute Infantry Battalion’s base about 20km from Montevideo, a location used as a torture and detention centre during Uruguay’s dictatorship (1973-85). According to the National Human Rights Institution’s (INDDHH) forensic anthropology team, they were the remains of an as yet unidentified woman who died under torture, one of 197 people ‘disappeared’ by the junta. The remains had been buried 30cm down, covered in lime, under a slab. The discovery came on 6 June 2023, three weeks before the country commemorated the 50th anniversary of the coup.

Early on 27 June 1973 President Juan María Bordaberry dissolved parliament with the backing of the armed forces. He claimed this ‘self-coup’ was necessary to fight National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros (MLN-T) guerrillas, though they had already been defeated militarily and were mostly in prison or exile.

If Augusto Pinochet’s regime in Chile (1973-90) was characterised by summary executions and Argentina’s dictatorship (1976-83) killed as many as 30,000 people in forced disappearances, the Uruguayan junta stands out, according to historian Álvaro Rico, for its ‘widespread and prolonged political imprisonment of young detainees’.

Widespread, as the country had the highest number of political prisoners per capita at the time: 18 per 10,000 inhabitants (5,925 in all), or 31 per 10,000 including those detained without trial. These figures exclude detainees in so-called ‘holding’ locations (such as the Cilindro Municipal, Montevideo’s main basketball stadium, which was converted into a prison) and minors who were imprisoned. To date, 51 ‘legal’ and nine clandestine detention sites have been identified along with three secret burial sites.

Eliminating the ‘enemy’

And prolonged, as these imprisonments were intended to eliminate the ‘enemy’ over time. Detention conditions were especially harsh for those the regime (…)

Full article: 1 479 words.