Dear friends, ALfredo de Mello is the eldest son of Dr. Froilano de Mello, the distinguished scientist, Parlamentarian,etc.He is settled in Montevideu.You will like to read this essay: Fernando do Rego
Essay on URUGUAY by Alfredo de Mello, January 2000 In a cocktail circle during a convention in Chicago, a lady saw my name and country on the badge pinned on my lapel, and greeted me: �You from Uruguay ?�, Yes ma�am ,then she blurted �That�s in Africa next to Rwanda isn�t it ?� My jaw dropped, and then, to correct her, a man in his third dry martini said: �No, it is in SouthEast Asia�. 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. Colonial Period Juan Diaz de Solis, an experienced Portuguese pilot � he had sailed with Cabral in1500, 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 Under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, en route to India, but he fled from the hands of Justice, seeking refuge in Spain. By 1516 he commanded a Spanish fleet discovering the Rio de la Plata in 1516. Solis was surprised to meet the fierce Charrua nomads who killed him in this flat land of rolling prairies. The Solis fleet sailed another twenty leagues south and legend says that a Portuguese mariner on seeing a hill, cried �Monte vi eu � ( I saw a hill) and this is the origin of the name Montevideo, the future capital of Uruguay, which has a beautiful bay below the hill, and an excellent harbour. 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 kilometre. In 1680 the Portuguese established the Colonia 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 Paran�, 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, Jos� 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 Ituzaing� ( 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. 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 colors 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.in a valley now known as �Sal- si- puedes� (literally meaning �Get out if you cn!� 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 Jos� 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 M�ximo Santos, and M�ximo Tajes ( 1880-1890). 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 in1903, the Colorado leader Jos� 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 Jos� Batlle dominated the political scene. Twice president of the republic (1903-07), (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. 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 labor 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 America). 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. Uruguayans have three passions: football, democracy and sipping mat� tea. In football they excelled, having been the Olympic champions of 1924, 1928, and then winning the World Cup in 1930. Once again in 1950, World Cup 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. 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 astounding 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 r�gime stirred a wave of dissent. Until 1970 the Colorados and Blancos garnered 90% of the votes, and the rest was split between the Socialists, Catholics, Communists and Independents. since then a Coalition of the Left was formed, �Frente Amplio on February 5th, 1971 and in four elections ( 1971, 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 1999, the Frente Amplio got 40% of the votes, whereas the Colorados and Blancos won 31% and 21% respectively. Four weeks later the two traditional adversaries formed a shaky coalition, and won the run-off elections by 51.8% versus 45.6% 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. Mat� , a tea-like 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 mat� tea from the gourd through a bombilla, a gourd hewn from a hand-sized pumpkin, 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 mat�. 16-2-2005.Since writing the above, after four and a half years of recession,and mismanabementof the Colorado government, including banking scandals, corruption in high lplaces, the Uruguayan people, voted in the general elections of the 31stOctober 2004,and the Frente Amplio won a majority in the first round, which has pleased me no end, as I saw the birth of this democratic party, thirty three years ago, and am happy that I�ve seen during my lifetime the triumph of a political party with which I have cooperated since its foundation Let us hope that the politicians now in power, as of March 1st 2005, will fulfill the program of national recuperation , and end the massive emigration of Uruguayans witnessed of late.It is the first time in Hisotory of Uruguay that a political party not belonging to the two traditional parties, wins an election, with absolute majority in both <Houses (Senate and Deputies) Fernando do Rego. 143-Fontainhas.Pangim 403.001. GOA. INDIA TEL:222.6353.
