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Uruguay Caudillos and Political Stability
Until 1865 the prevailing political idea was fusion
(fusión), meaning unity among Uruguayans, the
putting
aside of the colors and banners that divided them in the
past.
This idea inspired the administrations of Juan Francisco
Giró
(1852-53), Gabriel Pereira (1856-60), and Bernardo Berro
(1860-64). Hatred and rivalry flared up, however,
preventing
harmony. Giró was forced to resign. Pereira suppressed
almost six
coup attempts, and Berro, the last Blanco president until
1958,
confronted a revolution led by Colorado Venancio Flores,
who took
power with the support of Brazil and Buenos Aires.
However,
General Flores, who had been commanding the armed forces
instead
of governing the country since that March, was
assassinated in
Montevideo in 1868, on the same day that Berro was
assassinated.
During the period preceding the Great War, the long
conflict
between church and state also began. It involved
Freemasons in
government circles and resulted in the expulsion of the
Jesuits
in 1859 (they were allowed to return in 1865) and the
secularization of cemeteries in 1861. Until then the
church had
almost exclusive control over the cemeteries.
The constitutional government of General Lorenzo Batlle
y
Grau (1868-72) was forced to suppress an insurrection led
by the
National Party. After two years of struggle, a peace
agreement
was signed in 1872 that gave the Blancos a share in the
emoluments and functions of government, through control of
four
of the country's departments. This establishment of the
policy of
coparticipation (coparticipación) represented the
search
for a new formula of compromise, based on the coexistence
of the
party in power and the party in opposition.
A permanent break in the cycle of near anarchy and
repression
was anticipated when José Ellauri (1872-75) was elected
president. His administration was characterized by the
predominance of university men over caudillos. A number of
them,
known as the "Girondists of 73" were sent to the General
Assembly. Unfortunately, however, the ensuing economic
crisis and
the weakness of civil power paved the way for a period of
militarism.
Data as of December 1990
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