"Uruguay had the highest number of political prisoners among the dictatorships in Latin America."

Within the framework of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the civic-military coup in Uruguay, Gerardo Caetano, historian, political scientist, professor at the University of the Republic (UDELAR) and former member of the CLACSO Steering Committee, participated on Wednesday, June 21, in the Panel: “Underground social changes here and beyond political authoritarianism: contributions and debates from the social sciences before and after the coup d'état”, organized by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences and CLACSO Member Centers in Uruguay.

In a note for CLACSO.tv, Caetano stated that “in Uruguay there have been, according to the most widely accepted list, 197 disappeared detainees, but it had the highest level of political prisoners in relation to the population of all the dictatorships in Latin America.”

He also analyzed that “50 years ago the country was experiencing the culmination of a long-lasting process, but which had a final juncture that was like a coup, like an assault on power by a coup coalition led (on June 27, 1973) by the coup military but not formed solely by them.”

Interviewed by Gustavo Lema

50 years after the coup in Uruguay