COUNTRY PROFILE

Sandwiched between Argentina and Brazil, pint-sized Uruguay can't decide whether it wants to join its bigger neighbors in pressing on with economic reform, or hark back to the golden days. Uruguayans reminisce fondly about the "welfare state", Latin America's only one, created in the early 20th century. Although free services have increasingly become a thing of the past, trade unions and left-wingers are still reluctant to embrace change. Mercosur membership is slowly opening up the once-prosperous nation, but not necessarily for the better: Uruguay is in danger of becoming a raw materials supplier to its more advanced Mercosur neighbors. As Mercosur becomes stronger, Uruguay may have little choice but to keep up with Mercosur and the dynamics of global trade. Fortunately, President Jorge Batlle is making this somewhat easier and has expressed an interest in broadening trade ties with some U.S. states. Moreover, Uruguay's frequent referendums may be democratic, but they mean that opponents can stymie the government's cautious efforts at reform. Divided over the future, Uruguayans are likely to remain united only by their voracious appetite for beef platters and soccer. There was separation of church and state in 1918, with no preference given to any religion. The most secular state in South America. The present government has given a higher profile to the Catholic Church. However, New Age thinking has been filling the vacuum among the agnostic middle-class and intelligentsia. Secularism and hope in man throughout the past century have characterized Uruguayan society.

OVERVIEW

Prior to European settlement, Uruguay was inhabited by groups of indigenous peoples. Juan Diaz de Solis, a Spaniard, visited Uruguay in 1516, but the Portuguese were first to settle it when they founded the town of Colonia del Sacramento in 1680. After a long struggle, Spain wrested the country from Portugal in 1778, by which time almost all of the indigenous people had been exterminated. Uruguay revolted against Spain in 1811, only to be conquered in 1817 by the Portuguese from Brazil. Independence was reasserted with Argentine help in 1825, and the republic was set up in 1828. Independence, however, did not restore order, and a revolt in 1836 touched off nearly 50 years of factional strife, including an inconclusive civil war (1839-51) and a war with Paraguay (1865-70), accompanied by occasional armed intervention by Argentina and Brazil. Uruguay, made prosperous by meat and wool exports, founded a welfare state early in the 20th century. A decline began in the 1950s as successive governments struggled to maintain a large bureaucracy and costly social benefits. Economic stagnation and left-wing terrorist activity followed. A military coup ousted the civilian government in 1973. The military dictatorship that followed used fear and terror to demoralize the population, taking thousands of political prisoners. After ruling for 12 years, the brutal military regime permitted election of a civilian government in November 1984 and relinquished rule in March 1985; full political and civil rights were then restored. Subsequent leaders contended with high inflation and a mammoth national debt. Presidential and legislative elections in November 1994 resulted in a narrow victory for the center-right Colorado Party and its presidential candidate Julio Sanguinetti Cairolo, who had been president in 1985-90. The new president pushed for constitutional and economic reforms aimed at reducing inflation and the size of the public sector, partially through tax increases and privatization. In November 1999 Jorge Batlle, of the center-right Colorado Party, won the presidency. In Aug. 2000 a commission began investigating the disappearances of 160 people who vanished during the military regime.

FACTS

Population: 3.2 million
Capital: Montevideo
Major language: Spanish
Major religion: Christianity
Form of government: republic
Monetary unit: 1 peso uruguayo = 100 centesimos 
Main exports: live animals, textiles, vegetable products, processed foods, hides and skins
Head of government and state: President


LEADERS

President:
Jorge Batlle Ibanez

Born October 25, 1927, Jorge Batlle Ibanez obtained his Doctor in Law and Social Sciences in the Law and Social Sciences School of the University of the Republic. Afterwards, he started his political career when he was elected Deputy for the Colorado Party, Sector 15, until February 14, 1963. Since then, Batlle has won numerous elections. He is married to Mercedes Menafra and has two children and three grandchildren. He was elected president in the 1999 elections. The next elections are in 2004.

OBSTACLES TO MINISTRY

• Lack of knowledge of God has given opening to a spirit of error. 

• During the '70s disillusionment set in, and by the '90s the manifest failure of secularism created a desperate search for the transcendent.

SPIRITUAL POWER POINTS

• Church leaders need prayer that there may be more fellowship and cooperation across denominational barriers.

• Brazilian spiritism has made a big impact on the country; there are now 1,200 registered occult centers - more than the number of Protestant churches.

Special thanks to Patrick Johnstone's, "Operation World" publisher, ISBN# 0-310-40031-7; 
and country profiles by eCountries.com and polisci.com.