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Uruguay Foreign Relations under Democratic Rule, 1985-90
With the return of democratic government in 1985,
Uruguay's
foreign policy underwent an abrupt change. After taking
office,
Sanguinetti vowed to maintain and increase diplomatic
relations
with every nation "that respects the international rules
of
noninterference in the internal affairs of other
countries." He
carried out this policy by renewing relations with Cuba,
Nicaragua, and China and by strengthening relations with
the
Soviet Union.
Sanguinetti's first foreign affairs minister, Enrique
Iglesias, conducted an intensive and successful diplomatic
offensive to restore his country's prestige. Once again,
Uruguay
began to host important international meetings, such as
the
September 1986 GATT conference and the second meeting of
the
presidents of the Group of Eight (the successor
organization of
the Contadora Support Group) in October 1988, at the
seaside
resort of Punta del Este. More world leaders visited
Uruguay
during the Sanguinetti administration than ever before in
Uruguay's history.
An important element of the Sanguinetti government's
foreign
policy was the promotion of a more just world economy and
of a
more free and open trade system. Guided by Iglesias,
Sanguinetti
reintegrated Uruguay into the region, renewed and
strengthened
diplomatic and commercial relations with countries that
were
ignored for ideological reasons during the "military
diplomacy"
period, negotiated new markets for Uruguayan products,
instigated
a new round of negotiations in GATT, and designed a new
Latin
American strategy for dealing with the foreign debt. In
April
1988, after Iglesias's election as president of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), Luis A. Barrios Tassano
became
Sanguinetti's second foreign affairs minister. Barrios
described
Uruguayan foreign policy as "pluralist, multifaceted,
nationalist, and flexible."
Data as of December 1990
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