Jorge Pacheco Areco (; April 9, 1920 – July 29, 1998) was a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an politician and journalist and the 33rd

president of Uruguay The president of Uruguay (), officially known as the president of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (), is the head of state and head of government of Uruguay. The president presides over the Cabinet of Uruguay, Council of Ministers, directing ...

, serving from 1967 to 1972. Formerly the

Vice President of Uruguay The vice president of Uruguay is the person with the second highest position in the executive branch of the Uruguayan government, after the President of Uruguay. The vice president replaces the elected President in case of his death or absence. Th ...

Pacheco became President after the sudden death of

Óscar Diego Gestido Óscar Diego Gestido Pose (3 November 1901 – 6 December 1967), was a Uruguayan politician and military officer who was the 32nd President of Uruguay from March 1967 until his death in December of the same year. Biography Diego Gestido was fr ...

."Leaders of Uruguay"
on terra.es, accessed 15 May 2006. A member of the Colorado Party, Pacheco Areco had previously been a member of the National Representative from 1963 to 1967, before becoming the vice president. Areco has been identified with right-wing politics, with one study has arguing that "By the late 1960's and early 1970s Colorado presidents such as Jorge Pacheco Areco and

Juan Maria Bordaberry ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

, while paying lip service to Batlle's ideals, led right-wing administrations."

Early life

Pacheco Areco Johnson was born on April 9, 1920 in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, son of physician and politician Manuel Pacheco González and Lilina Ofelia Areco Quintana.Family of Jorge Pacheco Areco
/ref> Born into a family of politicians, his paternal grandfather, Melchor Pacheco Stewart, was the brother of Matilde Pacheco, wife of President

José Batlle y Ordóñez José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ( or ; 23 May 1856 – 20 October 1929), nicknamed ''Don Pepe'', was a prominent Uruguayan politician who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. The son of a former president, ...

. While his maternal grandfather was the jurist Ricardo Areco.

Early political career

Pacheco joined the Colorado Party in the late 1950s, and was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

in 1962. Starting in 1967, In the government of President Gestido he was sixth person to hold the title of Vice President, a post which was revived when he took office, having been abolished several years earlier.

Presidential term (1967–1972)

On December 6, 1967, Vice President Pacheco was sworn in when President Gestido died suddenly after a few months in office. Pacheco immediately implemented price and wage freezes in an attempt to control

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

, and enforced a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

in June 1968 to stem the resulting

labour dispute A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during co ...

s. His administration fought the

Tupamaros The National Liberation Movement – Tupamaros (, MLN-T) was a Marxist–Leninist urban guerrilla group that operated in Uruguay during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989, the group was admitted into the Broad Front and a large number of its membe ...

, an urban guerrilla group officially known as the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN) since being formed in 1963. The government, with Parliament's approval, imposed emergency measures from June 1968 to March 1969. Since Uruguay's constitution does not allow a president to run for immediate re-election, a referendum for constitutional reform was submitted to allow Pacheco to run for a second term in 1971, but it did not pass.

Post-presidential years (1972–1998)

After Pacheco left office, his successor Juan María Bordaberry appointed him as Uruguay's Ambassador to Spain. Later, President

Aparicio Méndez Aparicio Méndez Manfredini (24 August 1904 – 27 June 1988) was a Uruguayan lawyer and politician. He was a de facto President of Uruguay from 1976 to 1981 as a non-democratically elected authority of the civic-military dictatorship. Backg ...

appointed him Ambassador to Switzerland and then to the United States. Pacheco returned to Uruguay in 1982, to run in the all-party primaries of 1982, the first step towards democratization after a military takeover in 1973. The "Batllismo" faction of the Colorado Party, led by

Julio María Sanguinetti Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo (; born 6 January 1936) often known by his initials JMS, is a Uruguayan former lawyer, journalist and politician of the Colorado Party (Uruguay), Colorado Party (PC) who served as the President of Uruguay as the ...

, won the primary, bringing Pacheco's faction of the Colorado Party to an end for several years. In 1984, Pacheco ran for president against Sanguinetti again, and lost. Pacheco supported the new Colorado administration, and his UCB Party was represented in the cabinet. Sanguinetti designated Pacheco to be Ambassador to Paraguay. After returning from Paraguay, Pacheco ran for president again in 1989, obtaining the UCB nomination, but lost a third time. Pacheco was part of the coalition government of President

Luis Alberto Lacalle Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera (; ''Lacalle'' locally or ; born 13 July 1941) is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer who served as the 36th president of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995. A member of the National Party, he previously served as Nation ...

, causing a split with his former running mate, Pablo Millor, tho took with him half of the UCB's elected representatives, in order to form " Cruzada 94", a new within the Colorados. With his health in a quite frail state, Pacheco ran for President in 1994, losing to Sanguinetti, and then retired from active politics. Making only an occasional public appearance for the rest of his life, he died on July 29, 1998. As the former President of Uruguay, Pacheco was buried with presidential honours at the

Central Cemetery of Montevideo The Central Cemetery (Spanish: ''Cementerio central'') of Barrio Sur, Montevideo, is one of the main cemeteries in Uruguay. It also ranks amongst the most popular in the country, given that most famous Uruguayan people are buried there. It is l ...

In popular culture

* Pacheco Areco was portrayed by Nemesio Antúnez in the 1972 political thriller film ''

State of Siege ''State of Siege'' () is a 1972 French–Italian–West German political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori. The story is based on an actual incident in 1970, when U.S. official Dan Mitrione was k ...

.''

References