Success of a "Soft Coup"

In a continent where military coups seem almost as common as peaceable elections, tiny Uruguay has been unique. Often described as the "Switzerland of South America," Uruguay, alone among Latin countries, could boast that not in this century had a democratically elected government been taken over by the military. Not, that is, until last week.

In a six-day contest of wills with President Juan Maria Bordaberry that ended Monday, the Uruguayan army and air force (later joined by the navy) pulled off a golpe blando, or "soft coup" --so called not only because it was bloodless, but because it left the civilian regime intact, if impotent. In exchange for salvaging his title and office, Bordaberry surrendered most of his powers to the armed forces. The military will have the final say in a newly appointed "security council" embracing both civilian ministers and top-ranking military commanders. The council's real functions will be carried on within the office of the Minister of Defense, whose appointment and that of the Minister of the Interior must be approved by the military. Thus last week President Bordaberry appointed army-picked candidates for those jobs--Walter Ravenna as Defense Minister and Colonel Nestor Bolentini as Minister of the Interior.

The armed forces also got Bordaberry's pledge to carry out 19 specific political and economic reforms, including a redistribution of income, land reform, elimination of foreign debt, a war on inflation and a crackdown on political corruption. Unlike the right-wing juntas that have assumed power in Bolivia and Brazil, or the nationalist, left-wing military regimes in Peru and Panama, Uruguay's new leaders seem almost apolitical. Although vociferously anti-Marxist, they describe their aims in naively chivalrous and even quixotic phrases--like serving as "watchdogs of patriotism, austerity, disinterest, generosity, honor and firmness of character."

The army awakened to its knightly mission last year, after ending the long reign of terror by the Tupamaro guerrillas. Systematically tracking down suspects one after another in order to demoralize the Tupamaro leadership, the army within nine months accomplished what the government, with a top-heavy bureaucracy and a casually corrupt police force and court system, had been unable to bring about in more than four years. Heady with victory, the army was obviously waiting for the chance to bring a new-found sense of morality to Uruguay's larger problems. It came last month, when a Montevideo paper documented charges of corruption against the city council. The army immediately joined the fray, demanding the aldermen be punished. When President Bordaberry fired his Defense Minister, who had supported the army's demands, the battle lines were drawn.

Few Uruguayans would disagree with the complaint of Brigadier General Jose Jaume that as surely as the Tupamaros were enemies, "so are the profiteers, the usurers, the speculators, the government swindlers." Once the most prosperous nation in Latin America, with the most advanced social system on the continent, the country has been slowly sinking into an economic and political quagmire. The cost of living has gone up 4,000% in the past 15 years, and the gross national product has grown only 13% in the same period. Over one-fifth of the 1,000,000 man work force is employed by the government, and another 400,000 live on government pensions.

Initially, at least, Uruguayans seemed a bit cynical about the possibilities for change, with or without a democracy. While the army took over the national radio and television stations and rolled its tanks into the city last week, Montevideans went about business as usual. Several hundred citizens did show up to picket in front of army tanks at the Presidential Palace, with signs warning, "Leave the President alone; we voted for him!" But a rally in support of Bordaberry Sunday night drew only a small crowd of supporters, including the chief executive's ample family and a handful of reporters.

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