The 1973-85 Uruguay dictatorship

Uruguay is known for its progressive laws and society. So how come it fell under a dictatorship? Guru'Guay explains.

By Clara for Guru’Guay

Police repression at anti-dictatorship demonstration. 1984. Source: Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo.

Society, Progressive | The People

Last updated on May 30, 2025

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Uruguay is a country of greys—both literally and metaphorically. Our history is complex, our architecture somber, our politics nuanced. Even the dictatorship’s history is not black and white either. Uruguay’s dictatorship wasn’t solely a military coup. An elected leader—from the same Colorado Party that later established the 2000 Peace Commission—declared the 1972 state of emergency, paving the way for what we now call the civic-military dictatorship. And not all soldiers were ‘the bad guys.’ Some generals opposed the coup and were jailed or tortured for it. The full picture remains unclear, its details still being discovered.

How did Uruguay end up having a dictatorship?

In the late half of the 20th century democratically elected regimes in Latin America would be overthrown by the military one after the other. Guatemala, 1954. Paraguay, 1954. Brazil, 1964. Dominican Republic, 1965. Bolivia, 1971. Ecuador, 1972. Chile, 1973. Uruguay, 1973. Argentina, 1976.

The dictatorship in Uruguay (1973-1985) began with a coup d’état. It wasn’t the first nor would it be the last Latin American country to see its democracy crumble overnight due to a US-backed initiative to prevent the spread of socialist, communist or Soviet ideas in what American officials considered their turf. During this dark chapter, citizens across Latin America were kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, forced into exile or hiding, disappeared without trace—and in many cases, buried beneath military bases. Their remains are still being unearthed today and identified through the tireless work of archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and their own families who never gave up the search.

Unlike Chile or Argentina, Uruguay’s dictatorship wasn’t a sudden or entirely military takeover. Instead, it began with an elected president, Juan María Bordaberry, suspending democracy in 1972 under pressure from the military. Claiming a “communist threat” from left-wing guerrillas like the MLN-T (known as Tupamaros, or the derogatory short form Tupas), Bordaberry dissolved parliament in 1973, creating a civic-military dictatorship—a partnership between generals and conservative politicians.

What lead to the dictatorship in Uruguay?

Prices for beef, wool, etc. collapsed, inflation spiralled and the Uruguayan quality of life, which had been very high, fell. Students, the trade unions and an armed guerrilla protested the situation in the late 1960s. Powerful segments of society— landowners, industrialists and some bankers—were of a conservative mind-set and there was a gradual move towards an authoritarian response which began with the prohibition of rival political parties and free media and culminated in the sitting president carrying out a kind of self-coup by dissolving parliament and banning all political parties, with the backing of sectors of the military. (Some military leaders were against the dictatorship and were jailed themselves. One general, Liber Seregni, went on to fund the Frente Amplio, the progressive coalition that ran the country from 2005).

Economic crisis fueled by stagnation and inflation eroded trust in democracy. Cold War paranoia incited officials in the United States to take a more hands-on approach to their neighbours’ policies—even those as far south as here. The US conceived the Doctrine of National Security to frame dissent as subversion. Urban guerrilla warfare lit the match, and the Tupamaros’ armed struggle gave the military an excuse to crack down.

What happened during the Uruguay dictatorship?

The Process, as the military called their plan, led to one in every fifty Uruguayans being jailed or tortured and prisons like Libertad and Punta Carretas becoming infamous. Censorship became the norm with books, music and even long hair being policed. Teachers had to swear loyalty oaths. Around two hundred people were killed or forcibly disappeared, many as part of Operation Condor, a cross-border repression network.

Unlike what one would expect of a military regime, Uruguay’s regime avoided mass shootings, preferring psychological control. SERPAJ (Service for Peace and Justice, an NGO) called it “psychological torture through uncertainty” to illustrate how an entire country was held captive through fear.

In 1980, the military tried to strengthen its rule through a constitutional referendum with the aim of establishing a constitutional regime to legitimise the government. To their shock, 57% voted “No.” Why? Because of economic failure when the middle class turned against austerity, fierce resistance by unions, students and even right wing politicians like Wilson Ferreira Aldunate campaigning against it. International pressure piled up straining the regime when the US cut aid after atrocities including the 1976 murders of exiled Uruguayan politicians in Buenos Aires.

By 1985, protests and backroom deals forced a return to democracy. The military kept influence but avoided trials until later years. Uruguay’s dictatorship left deep scars. One in three Uruguayans having a family member directly affected—or more, as is my case. Justice is being served slowly. In the 2000s trials began with key figures like Bordaberry being indicted, however many perpetrators remain unpunished thanks to their silence. Even today the topic is discussed in hushed voices. This though the dictatorship is a compulsory part of the syllabus for all Uruguayan students. Yet Uruguay rebuilt remarkably. Today, it’s a progressive leader in Latin America—proof that even the darkest—grey—periods can fade.

Is it true that a Uruguayan president was a member of the guerrilla?

Jose ‘Pepe’ Mujica was a guerrilla in the Tupamaros, the left-wing urban militant group. They aimed at keeping violence to a minimum and carrying out actions that denounced the elite rather than terrorising the population. For example, they robbed and exhibited accounting ledgers to demonstrate the hold of banks over politicians. However, the idyll ended with the assassination of a US official in a story retold in the Costa-Gavros movie State of Siege. Pepe was arrested and jailed for 13 years, during two of which he was held at the bottom of a dry well (the story of which was retold in the film A twelve Year Night). When democracy returned he joined the Frente Amplio, and became notorious as the senator who arrived at Congress on a tatty Vespa. He became president in 2010 in a ceremony which included his reviewing of the very same army brigade that had imprisoned him so many years previously. When his term ended, a huge gathering formed outside the presidential building spontaneously to see him off at 6pm on his last day.

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