Background

Arredondo was a strong supporter of a rival faction of the ruling Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 Party government of President of Uruguay

President of Uruguay

The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the head of state of Uruguay. His or her rights are determined in the Constitution of Uruguay. Conforms with the Secretariat of the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the Director of the Office of Planning and Budget, the executive branch...

 Juan Idiarte Borda

Juan Idiarte Borda

Juan Idiarte Borda was the 17th President of Uruguay. He is the last Uruguayan president to be assassinated.-Background:...

. An apparent attempt was made on the life of President Idiarte in the spring of 1897, and which was widely publicized, including in El Día, edited by José Batlle y Ordóñez

José Batlle y Ordóñez

José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez was the president of Uruguay in 1899 and from 1903 until 1907 and for a further term from 1911 to 1915. He was the son of former president, Lorenzo Batlle y Grau. His children César, Rafael and Lorenzo Batlle Pacheco were actively engaged in politics...

, where Arredondo's name also mysteriously appeared in connection with this incident, although he was ostensibly unconnected with this attempt on Idiarte's life.

Assassination of Uruguayan President

On August 25, 1897 Arredondo assassinated Idiarte in the Uruguayan

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 capital Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

 as he emerged from a church service. Claiming to have acted alone, he was convicted of the crime and imprisoned.

Arredondo's act of slaying Idiarte is hitherto the only instance of the assassination of a sitting President in the history of Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

.

Place in literature

Arredondo was later mentioned in the writings of the Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 writer Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...

, who was an acute observer of Uruguayan

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

history and politics .