It commemorates the date on which one of the founders of the wide front and emblem of that political force, General Liber Seregni. The political leader arrested him at five in the afternoon at the home of Colonel Carlos Zufriategui.
The leader and soldier remains captive under harsh confinement measures at the mercy of the Army Command, where he was subjected to several harassments. On February 11, 1974, a military investigating judge prosecuted him for the crime of “covering up an attack on the Constitution.”
He was accused of meeting during the year 1971, with leaders of the National Liberation Movement. The accusation was based on statements obtained, allegedly under torture, from four leaders of the “Tupamaros” imprisoned in military units.
On the day of the arrest and only a few hours apart, a peaceful demonstration against the dictatorship had taken place in the center of Montevideo. It was called by the National Workers Convention (CNT) and was supported by the National Party and the Broad Front.
At that time, the political situation in Uruguay had become totally tense and its boiling point was the dissolution of the chambers on June 27. The Executive Power, together with the armed forces, decided to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, establishing press censorship and the suspension of the right of assembly.
Specifically, on July 4, the National Workers’ Convention was marked as proscribed. The Joint Forces Press Office requests the capture of a total of 52 union leaders. The CNT counterattacked by declaring a general strike and immediately occupying workplaces, a fact that lasted for two weeks.
Freedom at five
After a decade, the political leader regained his freedom on March 19, 1984, in full transition at 5:45 p.m. when he left the Central Prison with his daughters Bethel and Giselle.
