Bordaberry, Juan María

(1928– )

   President of Uruguay (1972–1976). Bordaberry was born into a family of wealthy landowners and served as the minister of agriculture under President Jorge Pacheco Areco in the late 1960s. In November 1971 he was elected president, representing the Colorado (Red) party. His victory over the Blancos (Whites) and the leftist Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition was narrow and widely attributed to electoral fraud. Taking office in March 1972, Bordaberry continued his predecessor’s policy of curtailing civil liberties and gave the military a freer hand in combating the Tupamaros, an urban guerrilla organization. By mid-1972 the guerrillas were crushed, and the military, successful in its counterinsurgency campaign, demanded a greater role in government. In February 1973 the service commanders forced Bordaberry to sign the Boisso Lanza agreement, one of the terms of which required him to create the Consejo de Seguridad Nacional (COSENA, National Security Council), which gave the military veto power over his government. The agreement was the first step in a lengthy coup that culminated on 27 June 1973, when Bordaberry closed Congress and established a dictatorship. The events of that day are often described as an autogolpe, or “self-coup,” since he essentially overthrew himself. On 12 June 1976 Bordaberry was forced out of office for being too far to the right—he balked at the idea of an eventual return to civilian rule. The military replaced him with another civilian, Dr. Aparicio Méndez Manfredini.

   In November 2006 Bordaberry and his former foreign minister, Juan Blanco, were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of the Uruguayan legislators Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez and two suspected guerrillas, William Whitelaw and Rosario Barredo. The crime, which took place in Argentina, has been linked to Operation Condor. The case is still under litigation.