Referendum vote lets military and police thugs off the hook
THE REFERENDUM on the so-called "Statute of
Limitations" has been won by those who want to retain it.
Despite an important popular mobilization, the military and the government have succeeded in keeping this law, which grants immunity from prosecution to those responsible for crimes committed under the dictatorship.
This is a serious defeat for a movement that was capable of gathering the number of signatures needed to call the referendum, as well as mounting a vigorous campaign to win the vote.
Thousands of brigades went out over the whole country to confront the blackmail and intimidation of the government and the armed forces.
The article published below gives an account of the referendum campaign. It was first published in Combate, paper of the Liga comunista revolucionario, section of the Fourth International in the Spanish state.
LUIS ALFONSO
1972. In 1980, facing growing popular hostility, it embarked on a transition policy by presenting a proposal for a constitution that would legalize the interference of the armed forces in Uruguayan political life. Despite the weight of the repressive apparatus, this project was rejected in a referendum by 57.8% of the voters.
The road to the elections at the end of 1984, which brought to power the current president, Sanguinetti of the Colorado Party, was marked out by popular struggles, strikes and mobilizations.
### Amnesty for political prisoners
Popular pressure for the release of political prisoners achieved its objective, and an amnesty law was adopted in 1985. At the same time, the campaign for bringing to trial all those police and military personnel guilty of more than 350 crimes of repression snowballed. There were 33 disappearances in Uruguay, 5 children kidnapped and never seen again, 78 deaths in prison and 53 deaths in the course of operations by the forces of repression, apart from innumerable cases of torture. Furthermore the dictatorship in neighbouring Argentina was responsible for the disappearance of a further 118 Uruguayans.
The government turned a deaf ear however, and in 1986 it approved the Statute of Limitations. A big mobilization began for the repeal of this law, but, according to the constitution 500,000 signatures had to be collected for a referendum to be held.
In fact, 600,000 signatures were gathered. A number of attempts were made to invalidate some of them, but in the end the necessary number was obtained and the government was obliged to organize the referendum.
The campaign was led by the whole of the left, as well as by minority currents in the Colorado and Blanco parties. This unity was maintained in the call for a green vote, but there was no agreement on what to do in the case of victory or on the type of campaign to conduct.
The official campaign for a yellow vote was conducted through all the means at the disposal of the state, and above all the television. This has a big influence in the interior of the country which it is difficult for militants from the popular movement to reach. The spokesperson of the campaign was the vice-president of the republic with the support of all the state institutions, including the armed forces.
The minister of defence made it clear that he would not respect the verdict of the ballot box if it was contrary to his military oath. He stated that "nobody can legally oblige military personnel to present themselves before a civilian court." Two days before the vote General Paulos, ex-chief of the information services, added: "The enemy of yesterday wants to weaken the armed forces today in order to come to power by a
HE REFERENDUM on the law
T that allows police and military personnel to escape trial and punishment for crimes committed during the 12 years of the military dictatorship took place on April 16. Some 770,000 voters (43%) chose the green slips indicating their support for the repeal of the law,
AND WE WON
TOTALLY LEGALLY!
while over a million (57%) voted with the yellow slips to keep it. [The population of Uruguay is 3 million] So those who tortured, confiscated and murdered will remain unpunished. The government and the military have won their position.
The dictatorship was imposed in February 1973 after the terrible repression of
AN UNPRECEDENTED FACT!!
18
PANCHO
International Viewpoint #164 • May 29, 1989
final assault". A flood of rumours formed the backdrop to these statements. In the capital, Montevideo, there was talk of possible actions by the Tupamaros and it seems that some provocations were stirred up. The president of the republic asserted on the eve of the referendum that if the Statute of Limitations was removed, this would mean "a step backwards in the process of pacification and the construction of institutions in the country."
A desire to avoid even worse evils To put it another way, threats of a return to dictatorship, of insubordination by the military and possible attacks on public order by the usual "subversives" were brandished in order to intimidate the population. The example of neighbouring Argentina, rocked by a series of attempted military coups, was kept constantly in view. The green vote prevailed in Montevideo, and it rivaled the yellow vote in the interior of the country. The military and the government won thanks to the votes of the most isolated and backward parts of the country, where people were terrified by the government's systematic propaganda. This was not a display of whole-hearted support for the military by broad layers of the population, but represented their desire to avoid even worse evils. The mobilization in favour of the green vote was not enough to overcome all the obstacles, but the value of the 43% gained under such difficult conditions should not be under-estimated. The result has inevitably discouraged the most active sectors and has touched a very broad layer of the population that is profoundly affected by this defeat. But the size of the support, nearly 800,000 votes, offers the hope that the role of the military will not be forgotten, and that the Uruguayan people will be able to overcome this partial defeat in the struggles yet to come.
URUGUAY A unified and militant campaign COMBATE phoned a leader of the Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores [PST — Socialist Workers' Party],