1942: Uruguay

On matters of hemisphere solidarity and continental defense the traditionally liberal country of Uruguay is always in the lead. On Jan. 24, 1942, it severed all relations with the Axis powers. It has been quick to uproot powerful Nazi organizations and imprison their leaders, and Congressional investigation of Axis sympathizers has been intensified. Close control has been exercised over Axis funds. On Feb. 5 Uruguay accorded Great Britain the privileges of a non-belligerent, a status granted to the United States immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. German submarine activity directed against Uruguayan shipping resulted not only in retaliatory action, such as the seizure of the German ship, Tacoma, which was interned in Uruguayan waters, but to a suggestion to other Latin American nations for 'united action' as 'more energetic than mere protest.' Bitter anti-Axis demonstrations followed the torpedoing of Uruguayan vessels. A new conscription system has been introduced and Uruguay's war strength is being greatly increased as a result of a lend-lease agreement with the United States. Progress has been slow on the construction of naval and air bases, but lend-lease funds have been advanced for such bases at Carrasco and Laguna Negra, which are the more essential since Uruguay has been the only South American country without a landing field suitable even for Pan American Airways planes.

An Emergency Advisory Committee for Political Defense, consisting of delegates from seven of the American Republics, has been functioning in Montevideo since April 15. The purpose of the Committee is to coordinate the efforts of all American nations to curb dangerous foreign activities; to investigate and control Axis propaganda; and to do on an international scale what national investigating committees, like that of Raúl Damonte-Taborda in Argentina, have been doing locally.

After long negotiation a trade pact was signed with the United States late in July, which granted concessions to the United States on a long list of agricultural and industrial products; in return, the United States will reduce the tariff on flaxseed, canned beef, hides and skins, and coarse wool. The primary importance of the treaty lies in its postwar effects. Unlike most Latin American countries, Uruguay's 1942 trade balance with the United States has declined, due to unshipped wool surpluses. These the United States has undertaken to purchase, under a contract signed Nov. 23, which will yield some $25,000,000 in dollar exchange. Industrial activity, on the other hand, has been much increased, the capital invested in manufacturing industries in 1941 totalling 309,000,000 pesos, as compared with an estimated investment in the livestock industry, the backbone of the national economy, of 488,000,000 pesos. Work on the Rio Negro hydroelectric plant, suspended because of Germany's inability to supply machinery and equipment according to the contract signed in 1937, will be resumed, though on a reduced basis, as the result of a $12,000,000 Export-Import Bank credit announced July 22 and a new contract substituting North American for German contractors. Completion was scheduled for 1943.

The Baldomir Government effected a coup d'état on Feb. 21 when it dissolved Congress in order to eliminate the influence on the Government of the Herrerista opposition. Elections scheduled for March 29 were postponed. The President then set up a Council of State to act in a legislative capacity, to advise him on all matters of administration, and especially to prepare for the national plebiscite on the new Constitution. The plebiscite held at the Nov. 29 elections resulted in approval of the Baldomir Constitution by a large majority. Presidential and Congressional elections held at the same time were a sweeping victory for the liberal forces, as well as for the pro-United Nations elements in the country. Sr. Juan José de Amezaga, the principal Colorado party candidate, was elected President; Foreign Minister Alberto Guani, candidate of the Baldomir wing of the party, Vice-President. For the first time in Uruguayan history women will sit in the new Congress.