Jorge Pedro Zabalza Waksman (30 November 1943 – 23 February 2022) was a Uruguayan politician and writer. He was a former leader within the political organization

Tupamaros The Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement ( es, Movimiento de Liberación Nacional – Tupamaros, MLN-T), widely known as Tupamaros, was a Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. The MLN-T is inextricab ...

and former president of the ''Junta Departamental de Montevideo''.

Biography

Zabalza was the son of Mary Waksman and the National Party leader Pedro Zabalza Arrospide. He was active in the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation before becoming a founding member of Tupamaros. As a part of the organization, he took part in the largest robbery in Uruguayan history, in which 55 million pesos were taken from the San Rafael Casino in

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este later became internationally known as a resort for the Latin and North American ...

. His brother, Ricardo Zabalza Waksman, also a Tupamaro, was assassinated during the

Taking of Pando The Taking of Pando ( es, Toma de Pando) was a violent occupation of the city of Pando, Uruguay on 8 October 1969 by the guerrilla known as Tupamaros. References

Conflicts in 1969, Pando 1969 in Uruguay Tupamaros Military operations involvi ...

on 8 October 1969. His cousin, Guillermo Waksman, was a journalist at '' Brecha''. Zabalza was taken prisoner on 26 June 1972 alongside eight others, including

Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro (March 14, 1942 – August 5, 2016) was an Uruguayan politician, journalist, and writer. He was popularly known as "El Ñato". A former member of the National Liberation Movement (Tupamaros) (MLN-T), he was in priso ...

, for their participation in the Punta del Este robbery. Interned at the , he was considered to be one of the hostages of the military dictatorship in Uruguay and endured twelve years of imprisonment and torture. Following the restoration of democracy in Uruguay, Zabalza became a member of the

Movement of Popular Participation The Movement of Popular Participation ( es, Movimiento de Participación Popular) is a Uruguayan political party. It is a member organisation of the left-wing Broad Front coalition. Background From 1985 onwards, after the end of the military ...

(MPP), created by

Raúl Sendic Raúl Sendic Antonaccio (16 March 1926 – 28 April 1989) was a Uruguayan Marxist lawyer, trade unionist and founder of the Tupamaros National Liberation Movement (MLN-T). Early life and education Born in a rural area, near the village of Jua ...

. In 1994, he was elected as President of the ''Junta Departamental de Montevideo''. In 1995, he left the Tupamaros while remaining within the MPP. He began to disagree with Tupamaros such as

José Mujica José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and im ...

and Huidobro, whose reformist agenda drew criticism from him. In 1997,

Intendant of Montevideo The Intendant of Montevideo is head of the executive branch of the government of Montevideo. The Intendant serves a five-year term and is limited to two successive terms. According to the Constitution, the officeholder is elected in a direct elec ...

Mariano Arana proposed the privatization of the Hotel Casino Carrasco. The MPP voted against the privatization, and Zabalza joined his party in the vote despite pressure from Tupamaros leaders. Zabalza resigned as President of the ''Junta Departamental de Montevideo'' following a scandal surrounding Arana regarding a transfer of Vaimaca Pirú's remains with France. Zabalza died in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern ...

on 23 February 2022, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabalza, Jorge 1943 births 2022 deaths Uruguayan politicians Broad Front (Uruguay) politicians Uruguayan socialists Uruguayan writers Uruguayan guerrillas People from Minas, Uruguay