Unveiled documents reignite discussions on Uruguay’s dictatorship era

An anonymous release of over 1,600 files relating to the military dictatorship in Uruguay (1973-1985) has reignited suspicions that the military still possesses key intelligence documents from the era.

The revelation arrives on the 50th anniversary of the dictatorship’s inception, coinciding with the discovery of possible skeletal remains of a missing detainee from the period.

The collection, known as the Berrutti Archive, comprises various documents from the regime’s intelligence services, the military justice system, and Joint Forces.

These files were found in 2006, digitalized and made available to several authorities, including the Justice and Defense Ministries, although not published for public access.

Samuel Blixen, a Uruguayan author who has extensively researched the dictatorship, suggests these files are part of a more extensive archive, potentially containing pivotal information about human rights violations and missing detainees’ locations.

He emphasizes that the Uruguayan Army had microfilmed all its documents from 1973, labeling the larger collection as the “mother file.”

The source of the leaked files is speculated to be within the Armed Forces, leading to calls for Defense Minister Javier García to investigate the “mother file’s” location.

Blixen also expressed concern over the political motivations behind the anonymous leak, suggesting it could aim to discredit the current government and the left-leaning coalition, Frente Amplio.

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