Twice President of the Republic Julius Mary Sanguinetti, spoke in the support publication of the Colorado Party, called the “Friday Mail”. The former president made reference to July 18, a historical date, where the oath of “his first Constitution in 1830” is commemorated.
«We say greater without prejudice for the declaration of August 25, 1825, without a doubt a relevant milestone in our founding process, but which did not mean the full independence of our Republic: the military deeds of Rincón, Sarandí and the formidable homeland would be required of the campaign of the Missions, so that finally the Preliminary Peace Convention was reached, which, in 1828, recognized the legal existence of our incipient State and formed the first provisional government».
The fact is that “since 2006 it has not been celebrated on July 18, in the Plaza Constitución, due to an unfortunate devaluation that the frontist governments made of a civic calendar that is of enormous value in citizen culture.”
On the other hand, he referred to the fact that the approach to history is not something casual. He noted that he sought to “install a false story about the process of the fall of the dictatorship.” “The central role of the MLN is diminished with its violent irruption in a Uruguayan society that after years of peace.”
“With surprise, it was invaded by a world of kidnappings, murders and revolt that, under the inspiration of the revolutionary mystique of Cuba, intended to inscribe us in that utopia with a sad ending.” “Without the guerrilla, no one can historically explain the military irruption in a valid way. Nothing diminishes the responsibility of the military commanders who led us to the coup d’état,” Sanguinetti said.
Military and guerrilla
However, “its advance over the public powers cannot be understood without the protagonism attributed to it by the guerrilla movements. They took out of the barracks a military force that had accompanied republican institutional life in order for half a century. It was not their purpose, naturally, to open that opportunity for them, but the fact is that they paved the way for the coup plotters.”
“The patriotic celebrations are not mere rhetoric,” he underlines later, noting that they are “obligatory occasions for the entire educational system to analyze and serve as a lesson on republican values.”
“Our fall in 1973 and the capitulations that were experienced on the right and on the left impose on us a renewed civic teaching towards the new generations.”
