Divided Uruguayans Will Vote Today on Amnesty Law

In the first referendum of its kind in Latin America, Uruguayans choose today between two ballots: green for trials and judgment of their former military rulers, yellow for forgiveness for past human rights abuses.

Those who opt for green are voting to repeal a 1986 amnesty law and thus seek justice for those who were killed, tortured or detained during 12 years of military-dominated government that ended in 1985. Revoking the law in a public vote, advocates contend, would make clear to the armed forces that such offenses can never be committed again with impunity.

Those who select a yellow ballot, in favor of upholding the amnesty, counter that Uruguay must finally put aside a painful era and avoid any possibility of a new showdown with the armed forces over events that largely occurred a decade ago.

The vote has resurrected tormented memories in this nation of 3.1 million, both of the left-wing Tupamaro guerrillas, whose urban terror convulsed the nation in the 1960s and early 1970s, and of the subsequent harsh military repression in what had been one of South America’s most staunchly democratic countries.

Uruguayans are now weighing how they should view that past, and how their choice will affect the restoration of a stable democracy. Other Latin American countries, some of which also made the transition from military to civilian rule in the 1980s, are watching the outcome closely.

Polls give the lead to the pro-amnesty coalition, which includes the ruling Colorado Party and most of the main opposition Blanco Party. The movement to repeal, which insists that it can win, is backed by a range of leftist parties, including the now-legal remnants of the Tupamaro movement.

Prototype Urban Guerrillas

The Tupamaros were the prototype leftist urban guerrilla movement in South America, unraveling the fabric of tranquil Uruguay’s society with a campaign of violence that ultimately provoked military intervention in 1973.

The security forces quickly crippled the Tupamaros by killing or capturing their key leaders, but the military clung to power until March, 1985, never releasing pressure on the Tupamaro remnants and other leftists. During that period, according to the London-based human rights group Amnesty International, Uruguay had the world’s highest share of political prisoners and torture per capita.

The amnesty law was enacted in December, 1986, as a deadline approached for the first officer to testify in a trial for human rights violations during the dictatorship. The military had made it clear that no officers would appear in the 40 or so pending cases, which involved about 180 officers. To avert a constitutional crisis, President Julio Sanguinetti put together a parliamentary majority for the amnesty law just before the officer’s scheduled appearance.

Within weeks, a petition drive to force a referendum on the law began. The movement, led by two widows of slain politicians, needed 555,701 signatures to ensure a vote. In 10 months, they succeeded in gathering 634,000 names, but the electoral court certified only 533,000. After a frantic campaign to verify enough contested names, the movement squeaked over the top last December--by a margin of 200.

Tota Quinteros, a 70-year-old widow, was one of the original supporters of the referendum. Her only child, a left-wing teacher named Elena, was arrested in June, 1976, and escaped a few days later onto the grounds of the Venezuelan Embassy. Uruguayan soldiers jumped the fence and wrestled Elena Quinteros away from Venezuelan officials, prompting Venezuela to break diplomatic relations with Uruguay. The daughter disappeared in October, her mother said, after having been repeatedly tortured in custody. She insisted her daughter had never taken part in violence and was accused years later of having been a courier between Argentina and Uruguay.

“We have the right to see them judged,” she said of the military. “We don’t seek vengeance. We seek . . . to know what happened, so it won’t happen again.”

Sanguinetti told foreign reporters Friday that endorsement of the law would be an act of generosity and reconciliation. The president said that the Uruguayan amnesty for the military balanced the amnesty granted in 1985 to about 800 convicted guerrillas.

Advocates of repeal find that logic flawed, arguing that pardoned guerrillas served many years in prison, while members of the security forces were pardoned without having been tried.

About 130 Uruguayans “disappeared” and were presumed killed during military rule and at one point more than 8,000 Uruguayans were held in military prisons, about 4,500 of them accused Tupamaro militants and their supporters.

Neither Sanguinetti’s government nor today’s military leaders have suggested outright that a anti-amnesty victory could provoke a coup. But neither have they done much to dispel such fears.

A pro-amnesty leaflet underlines the theme that the guerrillas should be blamed: “Yesterday’s criminals cannot speak of justice today. Vote Yellow.”

The repeal movement, with a symbol of a green ballot, answers in its literature: “Impunity invites new crimes, and it is the true source of violence.”

THE COLOR OF URUGUAY’S FUTURE In an unusual referendum, this South American nation of 3.1 million people is voting today on whether to uphold or repeal an amnesty law that covers alleged offenses committed during 12 years of military-dominated government.

Yellow ballots: In favor of upholding the amnesty and forgiving past human rights abuses.

Green ballots: In favor of revoking the law and prosecuting former military rulers.