Raúl Sendic Antonaccio (March 16, 1926 – April 28, 1989) 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 ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist and founder of the National Liberation Movement – Tupamaros (MLN–T). After beginning his legal career organising agricultural workers and agitating for

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, he moved into militant activism and established the MLN–T to carry out

urban guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...

against the Uruguayan state. He was arrested and imprisoned by the

civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay The civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay (1973–1985), also known as the Uruguayan Dictatorship, was an authoritarian military dictatorship that ruled Uruguay for 12 years, from June 27, 1973 (after the 1973 coup d'état) until March 1, 1985 ...

, only being released after the transition to democracy. As the Tupamaros shifted once more to legal, political activities, Sendic died from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS).

Biography

Raúl Sendic Antonaccio was born on 16 March 1926, into a peasant family in the

Flores Department Flores () is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay, positioned in the southwest of the central part of the country. Its capital is Trinidad, Uruguay, Trinidad. It borders Durazno Department to the north and east, Florida Department to th ...

. After studying

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and joining the

Socialist Party of Uruguay The Socialist Party of Uruguay () is a centre-left political party in Uruguay. Founded in 1910, it is part of the Broad Front political coalition and the Progressive Alliance. History The party was founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokes ...

, during the 1950s, he worked as a

for rural trade unions and founded a number himself, organising

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

workers in the

Artigas Department Artigas Department (, ) is the northernmost Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay, located in its northwestern region. Its capital is the city of Artigas, Uruguay, Artigas, which borders on the Brazilian city of Quaraí. Artigas Department ...

. He also led demonstrations in the capital of

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 ...

, calling for an

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...

and

under the motto "For the land and with Sendic" (), but the protests were repressed. During the 1960s, Sendic established the National Liberation Movement (; MLN), commonly known as 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 ...

, a militant urban guerrilla movement. Declaring war on the Uruguayan government and its U.S. support, the Tupamaros carried out attacks that gradually increased in magnitude. They first began by robbing banks and gun stores, but they then began to move to kidnappings, bombings, takeovers of police and military installations, and assassination of Uruguayan and foreign officials. These political targets included Dan Mitrione, an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent alleged to have taught techniques of torture to police forces in various

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n countries. On 7 August 1970, Sendic was arrested and imprisoned in Punta Carretas, but he and over 100 other Tupamaros prisoners managed to escape through a tunnel the following month. He remained in the country to continue leading the Tupamaros. Two years later, he was arrested again; he and eight other Tupamaros leaders were held in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

for 12 years by the

. In November 1979, Sendic's wife, Violeta Setelich, submitted a complaint to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per ye ...

on his behalf, alleging breaches of the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

(ICCPR), a treaty to which Uruguay is a party. In October 1981, the Committee found that Uruguay violated articles 7, 9, 10, and 14 of the

ICCPR The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

in respect of Sendic during his trial and imprisonment.HRC views on communication No. R.14/63
/ref> After the transition to democracy, an amnesty was proclaimed and Sendic was released. Together with other Tupamaros leaders, he established the

Movement of Popular Participation Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

(MPP) to achieve their goals legally and politically. During the late 1980s, Sendic travelled to Cuba and Europe, as a political representative of the Tupamaros. By this time, his health began to decline as he succombed to

(ALS), from which he died on 28 April 1989. He was buried in La Teja, on 8 May 1989.

References

External links

La tierra: ''un tema tabú que vuelve'', Raúl Sendic, 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sendic, Raul 1926 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Uruguayan lawyers Burials at Cementerio de La Teja, Montevideo Deaths from motor neuron disease in France Movement of Popular Participation politicians People from Flores Department Terrorism in Uruguay Tupamaros Socialist Party of Uruguay politicians United Nations Human Rights Committee case law Uruguayan communists Uruguayan guerrillas Uruguayan people of Croatian descent Uruguayan people of Italian descent Uruguayan trade unionists

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links