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Uruguay Business Elites
Uruguay's commercial, financial, and industrial elites
were
more cosmopolitan than the big ranchers. However, the high
number
of basic industries and utilities run by the state meant
that
large private entrepreneurs were less numerous than would
otherwise be the case. The urban-rural divide was no
longer very
pronounced: traditional landowning families had
diversified into
food processing and other businesses, while the sons and
daughters of businessmen were ensured a private education.
Until
1984 there was only one university in the country, the
University
of the Republic (also known as the University of
Montevideo); it
served as a major force for miscegenation among elites and
even
among the middle classes.
Foreign multinational corporations were less active in
Uruguay than in many other Latin American countries
because of
the small size of its domestic market. One exception to
this,
however, was the banking system, which was heavily taken
over by
European and North American conglomerates in the 1970s and
1980s.
A pattern of close cooperation between domestic and
foreign
business interests had emerged on the basis of joint
ventures and
licensing agreements.
Urban business interests were organized in two rival
associations: the Chamber of Industry, which was dominated
by
industrial manufacturers, and the Chamber of Commerce,
which was
more oriented toward services and retail trades. The
Chamber of
Commerce was enthusiastic about the liberalization of
imports and
the maintenance of a strong currency from 1977 to 1982. By
contrast, foreign competition hit industry hard,
accustomed as it
was to the high rates of protection given by the previous
model
of
import-substitution industrialization (see Glossary).
Data as of December 1990
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