Uruguay FOREIGN RELATIONS
Embassy of the United States, Montevideo
Courtesy Edmundo Flores
President Lacalle addressing the Organization of American
States, Washington, September 1990
Courtesy Organization of American States (Roberto Ribeiro)
Uruguay's foreign policy has been shaped by its
democratic
tradition, its history of being a victim of foreign
intervention,
its status as the second smallest country in South America
(after
Suriname), and its location between the two rival giants
of the
region: Argentina to the west and Brazil to the north. In
the
nineteenth century, Argentina and Brazil did not accept
Uruguay's
status as an independent republic, and they often invaded
Uruguayan territory
(see Beginnings of Independent Life, 1830-52
, ch. 1). The British and French consuls, for their part,
often
exercised as much power as the local authorities. Thus,
Uruguay's
international relations historically have been guided by
the
principles of nonintervention, respect for national
sovereignty,
and reliance on the rule of law to settle disputes. The
use of
military force anywhere except internally was never a
feasible
option for Uruguay.
According to Bernardo Quagliotti de Bellis, a Uruguayan
professor of law, his country had historically defined its
foreign policy as based on five principles: affirmation of
the
right of self-determination of peoples; active
participation in
the process of political cooperation that attempts to look
within
and outside the region; coordination of positions on
everything
possible; recognition of the complexity and the diversity
of the
problems at hand; and flexibility combined with a sense of
precaution.
Beginning with Batlle y Ordóñez's government in the
early
twentieth century, Uruguay has been active in
international and
regional organizations. It joined the United Nations (UN)
in 1945
and has been a member of most of its specialized agencies.
In
1986 Uruguay was elected to membership in the UN's
Economic and
Social Council. In December 1989, Uruguay signed the
United
Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances. Uruguay belonged to thirty-one
other
international organizations as well, including the
Organization
of American States (OAS), the General Agreement on Tariffs
and
Trade
(
GATT--see Glossary), the International
Telecommunications
Satellite Organization (Intelsat), the Latin American
Economic
System (Sistema Económico Latinamericano--SELA), and the
Latin
American Integration Association (Asociación
Latinoamericana de
Integración--
ALADI; see Glossary). Uruguay was a signatory
of the
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio
Treaty), the
Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin
America
(Tlatelolco Treaty), and the Río de la Plata Basin Treaty.
Uruguay has had strong political and cultural ties with
the
countries of Europe and the Americas. It has shared basic
values
with them, such as support for constitutional democracy,
political pluralism, and individual liberties.
Historically,
Uruguay has enjoyed a special relationship with Britain
because
of political and economic ties beginning in 1828
(see The Struggle for Independence, 1811-30
, ch. 1). Bilateral
relations
with Argentina and Brazil have always been of particular
importance. In 1974 and 1975, Uruguay signed economic and
commercial cooperation agreements with both countries.
Traditionally, relations between Uruguay and the United
States have been based on a common dedication to
democratic
ideals. Although it initially attempted neutrality in both
world
wars, Uruguay ultimately sided with the Allies. In World
War I,
Uruguay did not break relations with Germany and lift its
neutrality policy until October 1917. By that time, the
government of Feliciano Viera (1915-19) had recognized
"the
justice and nobility" of the United States severance of
diplomatic relations with Germany in early 1917. In 1941
President Alfredo Baldomir (1938-43) allowed the United
States to
build naval and air bases in Uruguay. The United States
also
trained and supplied Uruguay's armed forces. In January
1942, one
month after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Uruguay broke
relations
with the Axis. The United States reciprocated with
generous
loans. As a condition for admission to the San Francisco
conference, where the United Nations Charter was drawn up,
Uruguay declared war against the Axis on February 15,
1945. That
year it also signed the Act of Chapultepec (a collective
defense
treaty of the American republics) and joined the
Inter-American
Defense Board (IADB). In 1947 it signed the Rio Treaty, a
regional alliance that established a mutual defense
system.
During the 1973-85 period of military rule, Uruguay's
traditionally democratic diplomacy was replaced by
"military
diplomacy" as determined by the "Doctrine of National
Security."
This military diplomacy gave priority to the serious
problem of
national and regional subversion and to historical
conflicts
affecting regional diplomatic stability, such as the
issues of
dams between Argentina and Brazil, sovereignty over the
Beagle
Channel, Bolivia's attempts to regain access to the
Pacific from
Chile, the Ecuador-Peru border dispute, and South Atlantic
security.
Data as of December 1990
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