Walter Santoro Baratçabal (April 29, 1922Informes diplomáticos de los representantes de Bélgica en el Uruguay: Volumen 2
/ref> – April 29, 2011) 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 lawyer and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security of his nation from 1963 to 1964. He also served as the interim

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 ...

for a brief period of time during

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 ...

's presidency.

Biography

Walter Santoro was a member of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, and he played a key role before and after the coup d'etat of 1973. He graduated in Law from the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

and soon became interested in politics. Following the Uruguayan dictatorship (1973–1985), he decided to remain out of the political scene as a means of showing his disapproval of the government. This decision earned him many followers, among which there are left-wing politicians such as current president

José Mujica José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (20May 193513May 2025) was a Uruguayan politician, 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 imprisone ...

. In 1985, when democracy was eventually restored in Uruguay, Santoro was chosen representative from

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones (; ) is one of the 19 Uruguayan departments. With an area of and 608,956 inhabitants at the 2023 Census, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Ciudad de la Costa is the largest city by ...

and served as such until 1990, when he became senator for two consecutive periods, from 1990 to 1995 and from this year to 2000.In 1994 he separated from Lacalle and promotes the presidential candidacy of Alberto Volonté the sector Bootstrap . After serving ten years as senator of the Republic, he retired in 2000 and kept a low profile until the time of his death, which took place in Santa Lucía, southern Uruguay, on April 29, 2011. Santoro's funeral was celebrated at the Legislative Palace, 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 ...

. His remains are buried at Santa Lucía Cemetery.

References

External links

Channel 10 of Montevideo: News on Walter Santoro's death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santoro, Walter 1922 births 2011 deaths People from Santa Lucía, Uruguay University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni 20th-century Uruguayan lawyers Ministers of labor and social affairs of Uruguay National Party (Uruguay) politicians