Jorge Pacheco Areco (November 8, 1920–July 29, 1998) was a Uruguayan politician and member of the Colorado Party. He served as President of Uruguay from December 6, 1967 to March 1, 1972.

Vice President of Uruguay

In the government of President Óscar Gestido 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.

Historical note

Pacheco was the sixth person to hold the office of Vice President of Uruguay. The office dates from 1934, when César Charlone became Uruguay'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 Gestido 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 Constitutional safeguards were repealed during these periods, and the government used torture during interrogations, brutally repressed demonstrations, and imprisoned political dissidents.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 (MLNT), 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 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 atmopshere 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.

Post-presidential years (1972–1998)

After leaving office, Bordaberry appointed him ambassador to Spain. Later on, President Aparicio Méndez 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.

His son, Jorge Pacheco Klein, also exercised a political career as a Colorado Party deputy.

See also

• Politics of Uruguay

• Colorado_Party_

• Fructuoso Rivera#Later legacy

• List_of_political_families#Uruguay

• List_of_Uruguayan_Ambassadors_to_the_United_States

References

1. "Leaders of Uruguay" on terra.es, accessed 15 May 2006.
2. "Uruguay (country)", MSN Encarta, accessed 15 May 2006. Archived 2009-10-31.
3. Uruguay entry on Columbia International Affairs Online, accessed 15 May 2006.
4. "Uruguay (Pachequism, 1967-72)", country-data.com, accessed 15 May 2006.