Jorge Pacheco Areco
Encyclopedia
Jorge Pacheco Areco was a Uruguay
an politician
and member of the Colorado Party
. He served as President of Uruguay
from December 6, 1967 to March 1, 1972.
in 1967, Pacheco served as Vice President of Uruguay
, a post which was revived when he took office, having been in abeyance for several years.
. The office dates from 1934, when César Charlone
became Uruguay
's first Vice President.
died after a few months in office.
He immediately implemented price and wage freezes
in an attempt to control inflation
, and enforced a state of emergency
in June 1968 citing the resulting labour disputes. Constitutional safeguards were repealed during these periods, and the government used torture
during interrogations, brutally repressed demonstrations
, and imprisoned political dissidents.
His administration was victim of the terrorist group Tupamaros
(MLN-T), formed earlier in 1963, as a communist revolutionary organization wanting to impose a regime similar to Cuba's. The group kidnapped and later released several foreign nationals, robbed banks, conducted bombings, freed political prisoners, and assassinated police officials. The government imposed modified martial law
throughout the civil war
from June 1968 to March 1969. In June 1969, New York (U.S. state) governor Nelson Rockefeller
visited Uruguay on a fact-finding mission. He was met by violent demonstrations, and the government re-imposed the state of emergency.
In 1971 a truce was declared with the Tupamaros, which led to a relatively quiet atmosphere for the November 1971 national elections, in which Pacheco ran for a second term. Since Uruguay's constitution does not allow for re-election, a referendum for constitutional change was submitted together with the presidential election. The population had become polarized under his presidential term. Many opposition parties united, drawing support from the two traditional parties (Colorado Party
and National Party
), and created a new coalition named the Frente Amplio
("Broad Front").
Although he received sufficient votes, the required 50% support was not met for the constitutional reform that would allow him to take a second term. Jorge Pacheco's handpicked successor, Juan María Bordaberry
, won the elections by roughly ten thousand votes following a mysterious halt in the vote count. The stabilization measures implemented throughout Pacheco's term were moderately successful, but did not last far into his successor's term.
appointed him ambassador to the United States. He returned to the country in 1982, to fight the all-party primaries of 1982, which was the first step towards democratization after the democratic interruption of 1973. The "Batllismo" faction of the Colorado Party led by Julio María Sanguinetti won the primaries. With this victory, the hegemony of Pacheco's faction in the party came to an end, at least, for several years.
Jorge Pacheco stood once again as presidential candidate for the Unión Colorada y Batllista in the November 1984 elections, selecting his former Deputy Defence Secretary and Secretary to the President Carlos Pirán as his running-mate. Although the Colorado Party won the elections, he lost to Sanguinetti 3 to 1 within the party.
Pacheco supported the new Colorado administration, and the UCB was represented in the cabinet. Sanguinetti designated Pacheco to be once again ambassador, this time to Paraguay. Returning from Paraguay, he accepted once again the Unión Colorada y Batllista nomination for the 1989 elections. Representative Pablo Millor was selected as his running-mate, representing an up and coming faction within the UCB. Pacheco once again lost, both internally to Jorge Batlle of the Batllismo faction, and the Colorado Party to the National Party.
Pacheco was part of the coalition government setup by President Luis Alberto Lacalle
. Due to this, his former VP candidate Pablo Millor split from his faction, taking with him close to half of the Pachequismo's elected representatives, creating a new, independent sector within the Colorados called "Cruzada 94". The UCB was the last faction to remain in Lacalle's government, apart obviously from the President's Herrerismo
.
With his health in a quite frail state, Pacheco run once again for President, in elections in November 1994. This time his running-mate was outgoing Industry Minister (from the Lacalle administration) Eduardo Ache. Pacheco's election result was very poor, but even his marginal result was significant for the Colorado Party to narrowly defeat the National Party and electing once again Julio María Sanguinetti to the presidency.
After the 1994 elections, Pacheco retired from active politics, and only occasionally would make any public appearance. He died on July 29, 1998, being buried with Presidential honours at the Cementerio Central.
, also exercised a political career as a Colorado
Party deputy.
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...
an politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and member of the Colorado Party
Colorado Party (Uruguay)
The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....
. He served as 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...
from December 6, 1967 to March 1, 1972.
Vice President of Uruguay
In the government of President Óscar GestidoÓscar Diego Gestido
Óscar Diego Gestido Pose was president of Uruguay in 1967.-Background:...
in 1967, Pacheco served as Vice President of Uruguay
Vice President of Uruguay
-List of Vice Presidents of Uruguay:Parties: Colorado Party, National Party, Frente Amplio-History of the office:The office of Vice President of Uruguay dates from 1934 ....
, a post which was revived when he took office, having been in abeyance for several years.
Historical note
Pacheco was the sixth person to hold the office of Vice President of UruguayVice President of Uruguay
-List of Vice Presidents of Uruguay:Parties: Colorado Party, National Party, Frente Amplio-History of the office:The office of Vice President of Uruguay dates from 1934 ....
. The office dates from 1934, when César Charlone
César Charlone (politician)
César Charlone was a Uruguayan political figure.-Background:Charlone was prominent member of the Uruguayan Colorado Party during the 1930s.-Vice President of Uruguay:...
became 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...
's first Vice President.
Presidential term (1967–1972)
Jorge Pacheco, then vice president, succeeded to the presidency in December 1967 after the elected president Óscar GestidoÓscar Diego Gestido
Óscar Diego Gestido Pose was president of Uruguay in 1967.-Background:...
died after a few months in office.
He immediately implemented price and wage freezes
Incomes policy
Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually below market level.Incomes policies have often been resorted to during wartime...
in an attempt to control inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
, and enforced a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in June 1968 citing the resulting labour disputes. Constitutional safeguards were repealed during these periods, and the government used torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
during interrogations, brutally repressed demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
, and imprisoned political dissidents.
His administration was victim of the terrorist group Tupamaros
Tupamaros
Tupamaros, also known as the MLN-T , was an urban guerrilla organization in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. The MLN-T is inextricably linked to its most important leader, Raúl Sendic, and his brand of social politics...
(MLN-T), formed earlier in 1963, as a communist revolutionary organization wanting to impose a regime similar to Cuba's. The group kidnapped and later released several foreign nationals, robbed banks, conducted bombings, freed political prisoners, and assassinated police officials. The government imposed modified martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
throughout the civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
from June 1968 to March 1969. In June 1969, New York (U.S. state) governor Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
visited Uruguay on a fact-finding mission. He was met by violent demonstrations, and the government re-imposed the state of emergency.
In 1971 a truce was declared with the Tupamaros, which led to a relatively quiet atmosphere for the November 1971 national elections, in which Pacheco ran for a second term. Since Uruguay's constitution does not allow for re-election, a referendum for constitutional change was submitted together with the presidential election. The population had become polarized under his presidential term. Many opposition parties united, drawing support from the two traditional parties (Colorado Party
Colorado Party (Uruguay)
The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....
and National Party
National Party (Uruguay)
The National Party , also known as the White Party , is a major right-wing conservative political party in Uruguay, currently the major opposition party to the ruling Frente Amplio government....
), and created a new coalition named the Frente Amplio
Broad Front (Uruguay)
The Broad Front is a Uruguayan left-wing coalition of political parties. It is led by Jorge Brovetto. Frente Amplio has close ties with PIT-CNT trade union and the cooperative housing movement.-History:...
("Broad Front").
Although he received sufficient votes, the required 50% support was not met for the constitutional reform that would allow him to take a second term. Jorge Pacheco's handpicked successor, Juan María Bordaberry
Juan María Bordaberry
Juan María Bordaberry Arocena was a Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher, who first served as President from 1972 until 1976, including as a dictator from 1973 until his ouster in a 1976 coup...
, won the elections by roughly ten thousand votes following a mysterious halt in the vote count. The stabilization measures implemented throughout Pacheco's term were moderately successful, but did not last far into his successor's term.
Post-presidential years (1972–1998)
After leaving office, Bordaberry appointed him ambassador to Spain. Later on, President Aparicio MéndezAparicio Méndez
Aparicio Méndez Manfredini , was a Uruguayan political figure. He was a de facto President of Uruguay from 1976–1981. As a non-democratically elected authority of the Civic-military dictatorship .-Background:...
appointed him ambassador to the United States. He returned to the country in 1982, to fight the all-party primaries of 1982, which was the first step towards democratization after the democratic interruption of 1973. The "Batllismo" faction of the Colorado Party led by Julio María Sanguinetti won the primaries. With this victory, the hegemony of Pacheco's faction in the party came to an end, at least, for several years.
Jorge Pacheco stood once again as presidential candidate for the Unión Colorada y Batllista in the November 1984 elections, selecting his former Deputy Defence Secretary and Secretary to the President Carlos Pirán as his running-mate. Although the Colorado Party won the elections, he lost to Sanguinetti 3 to 1 within the party.
Pacheco supported the new Colorado administration, and the UCB was represented in the cabinet. Sanguinetti designated Pacheco to be once again ambassador, this time to Paraguay. Returning from Paraguay, he accepted once again the Unión Colorada y Batllista nomination for the 1989 elections. Representative Pablo Millor was selected as his running-mate, representing an up and coming faction within the UCB. Pacheco once again lost, both internally to Jorge Batlle of the Batllismo faction, and the Colorado Party to the National Party.
Pacheco was part of the coalition government setup by President Luis Alberto Lacalle
Luis Alberto Lacalle
Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera is a Uruguayan lawyer and politician who served as President of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995.-Background:His mother, María Hortensia de Herrera de Lacalle, was the daughter of the Blanco political leader Luis Alberto de Herrera, after whom Lacalle was named. Luis...
. Due to this, his former VP candidate Pablo Millor split from his faction, taking with him close to half of the Pachequismo's elected representatives, creating a new, independent sector within the Colorados called "Cruzada 94". The UCB was the last faction to remain in Lacalle's government, apart obviously from the President's Herrerismo
Herrerismo
Herrerism is a political faction of the Partido Nacional in Uruguay.-History, and prominent members:It is named after the leader and founder of the faction, Dr...
.
With his health in a quite frail state, Pacheco run once again for President, in elections in November 1994. This time his running-mate was outgoing Industry Minister (from the Lacalle administration) Eduardo Ache. Pacheco's election result was very poor, but even his marginal result was significant for the Colorado Party to narrowly defeat the National Party and electing once again Julio María Sanguinetti to the presidency.
After the 1994 elections, Pacheco retired from active politics, and only occasionally would make any public appearance. He died on July 29, 1998, being buried with Presidential honours at the Cementerio Central.
Family background
His son, Jorge Pacheco KleinJorge Pacheco Klein
Jorge Pacheco Klein is a Uruguayan political figure and lawyer.-Background:Pacheco Klein is a member of the Uruguayan Colorado Party...
, also exercised a political career as a 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 deputy.
See also
- Politics of UruguayPolitics of UruguayThe Politics of Uruguay abide by a presidential representative democratic republic, under which the President of Uruguay is both the head of state and the head of government, as well as a multiform party system. The president exercises executive power and Legislative power is vested in the two...
- Colorado Party (Uruguay)Colorado Party (Uruguay)The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....
- Fructuoso Rivera#Later legacy
- List of political families#Uruguay
- List of Uruguayan Ambassadors to the United States
- Tupamaro National Liberation Movement