Naval Club Pact
Drafted1 August 1984 (1984-08-01)
LocationMontevideo, Uruguay
Sealed3 August 1984 (1984-08-03)
Ratified15 August 1984 (1984-08-15)
Parties Military junta
Colorado Party
Broad Front
Civic Union
LanguagesSpanish

The Naval Club Pact (Spanish: Pacto del Club Naval) was an agreement between the authorities of the military junta of the civil-military dictatorship of Uruguay and representatives of the political opposition. Secretly agreed on August 3 on August 3, 1984, at the naval club in the Carrasco neighborhood of Montevideo, it laid the foundations for the transition to democracy in the country.

Background

The civil-military dictatorship was installed after the coup d'état of 1973. In 1981, a year after the electorate rejected a constitutional reform proposed by the regime to legitimize itself in a referendum, the Council of the Nation –the governing body composed of the Council of State and the Board of General Officers– appointed Army General Gregorio Conrado Álvarez as President of Uruguay.[1]

In 1982, a greater political opening began, with the holding of primary elections in the political parties, and in 1983 the dialogue between the political and military authorities increased.[2] That year talks were held at the Parque Hotel, which ultimately did not lead to any agreement.[3] In November, a massive demonstration took place at the Obelisk of the Constituents of Montevideo demanding the holding of general elections and the end of the dictatorial regime.[4]

After the 1982 primary elections and the demonstrations throughout the country, the civil opposition became the only valid interlocutor for the government.

Negotiations

Blixen de Castro Palace, former headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff where the talks began.

On July 6, 1984, talks were resumed at the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff –current headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense–.[5] The commanders in chief of the three branches of the Armed Forces participated on behalf of the military government: Hugo Medina, Manuel Buadas and Rodofo Invidio, for the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, respectively.[6]

The Civic Union was represented by Juan Vicente Chiarino and Humberto Ciganda.[7] Julio María Sanguinetti, Enrique Tarigo and José Luis Batlle represented the Colorado Party.[8] And on the other hand, the Broad Front was represented by the socialist José Pedro Cardoso and the Christian Democrat Juan Young, since both parties had been legalized throughout the talks.[9] The National Party refused to participate in the talks because it was opposed to the military proposal of holding the elections with banned parties and politicians, among whom were its leader Wilson Ferreira Aldunate who had been imprisoned after his return from exile on July 16.[10]

On July 31, the negotiation sessions were moved to the Naval Club, located in the Carrasco neighborhood.[11] On August 1, Institutional Act No. 19 was drafted, and two days later, after both parties separately approved the document, the negotiation was concluded without the signing of any agreement.[10] On August 15, Institutional Act No. 19 was ratified by the Government.[6]

Aftermath

The Naval Club Pact laid the foundations for the transition to democracy after almost 13 years of dictatorship. Three months after the ratification of Institutional Act No. 19, a general election was held in which both Ferreira Aldunate, Líber Seregni and Jorge Batlle were banned, and in which Julio María Sanguinetti was elected president of Uruguay.

On February 12, 1985, Gregorio Conado Álvarez resigned from the position of president, which was occupied by the president of the Supreme Court Rafael Addiego Bruno, until Sanguinetti took office on March 1, 1985, the date on which he ended officially the dictatorship in Uruguay.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "El dictador militar uruguayo - Semanario Brecha". brecha.com.uy. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  2. ↑ Arregui, Miguel. "Las cruciales internas de 1982 y la apertura democrática". El Observador. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  3. ↑ "El frustrado acuerdo del Parque Hotel". LARED21 (in Spanish). 2008-07-06. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  4. ↑ "Se va a acabar: hoy se cumplen 30 años del acto del Obelisco contra la dictadura". la diaria (in Spanish). 2013-11-27. Archived from the original on 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  5. ↑ "09 | Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo". cdf.montevideo.gub.uy. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  6. 1 2 Arteaga, Juan José (2000). Historia Contemporánea del Uruguay. Montevideo: Ediciones Cruz del Sur. p. 269.
  7. ↑ "Breve historia - Semanario Brecha". brecha.com.uy. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  8. ↑ "A 20 años del Pacto del Club Naval persisten diferencias". LARED21 (in Spanish). 2004-08-04. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  9. ↑ Schelotto, Magdalena (2015). La dictadura cívico-militar uruguaya (1973-1985): militarización de los poderes del estado, transición política y contienda de competencias (in Spanish). Association culturelle Diacronie. p. 8. ISSN 2038-0925.
  10. 1 2 Bonfanti, Daniele; Broquetas, Magdalena; Cuadro, Inés; Frega, Ana; Islas, Ariadna; Porrini, Rodolfo; Rodríguez Ayçaguer, Ana María; Ruiz, Esther. Historia del Uruguay en el siglo XX (1890-2005) (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental. p. 208. ISBN 978-9974-1-0492-1.
  11. ↑ "Reuniones Cívico-Militares" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  12. ↑ "Falleció ex Ministro de la SCJ Dr. Rafael Addiego Bruno". www.poderjudicial.gub.uy (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-12-03.
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