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Uruguay The United States
Although Uruguay was critical of unilateral United
States
military intervention in Latin America and elsewhere,
bilateral
relations during the 1985-90 period were excellent. The
United
States, which had expressed deep concern about the human
rights
situation beginning with the administration of Jimmy
Carter,
strongly supported Uruguay's transition to democracy. In
March
1985, Secretary of State George P. Shultz attended
Sanguinetti's
presidential inauguration. As a member of the Contadora
Support
Group, Uruguay participated in meetings on Central
American
issues in 1985-86, particularly United States support for
the
anti-Sandinista resistance guerrillas in Nicaragua. The
Sanguinetti government regarded United States aid to the
antiSandinista Contra rebels in Nicaragua as an obstacle to
peace in
Central America. It also opposed the presence of United
States
troops in Honduras.
Despite his government's criticism of United States
military
actions in Honduras, in Nicaragua, and against Libya in
April
1986, Sanguinetti received a warm welcome at the White
House
during an official five-day state visit to the United
States in
June 1986, the first by a Uruguayan president in more than
thirty
years. During the visit, which was dominated by trade
discussions, Sanguinetti criticized United States
protectionist
policies, such as the decision to subsidize grain exports
to the
Soviet Union. Nevertheless, he departed Washington
satisfied that
the administration of President Ronald W. Reagan had
adopted a
more flexible policy toward Uruguayan exports. Shultz
again paid
an official visit to Uruguay on August 5, 1988, for talks
with
Sanguinetti, Barrios, and several opposition leaders. The
official talks centered on trade issues.
Although Uruguay's relations with Panama at the time of
the
United States military intervention there in December 1989
were
at their lowest possible level--without an ambassador--
Sanguinetti was again critical of the United States. He
characterized the United States military operation as a
"step
backward."
Data as of December 1990
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