Uruguay in Transition

Until the early 1970s Uruguay held a worldwide reputation as a democratic island in Latin Amer­ica, maintaining a collective exec­utive system that acquired for it the nickname of the "Switzerland of South America." The constitu­tional tradition was emphasized by a nonpersonalist and non-authoritarian executive, political stability, a high standard of living, and an advanced educational and cultural level.

The military has shattered this established tradition. Over a two-year period its growing involve­ment in politics ended with abso­lute control over the executive.

The aim of this work is to ana­lyze this transformation and con­sider the major variables that have affected political developments in Uruguay. Internal factors are the respective influences wielded by the United States plus Uruguay's two most powerful neighbors, Ar­gentina and Brazil, as well as polit­ical trends in the Latin American subsystem. Among the external in­fluences are competing elites (the traditional political parties and the left-wing front), interest groups (universities, trade unions, the church, dominant economic sec­tors, and the mass media), and the urban guerrilla movement (the Tupamaros).Kaufman analyzes these factors within the context of the Uruguay­an economic and political struc­ture, and shows their significance through their effects on the per­ception of the military elite.

In addition, he attempts to de­termine whether the army's deci­sion to assume absolute power was strategic or a cumulative result of tactical decisions. Finally, he utilizes the accumulated data to test various hypotheses related to military intervention as an inde­pendent variable.