Former guerrillas head Uruguayan Congress (Tupamaros)

[struggle4progress]

Mercosur
Wednesday, 16 February

<snip> Mr. Jose Mujica, a Tupamaro rebel leader who spent seven years imprisoned in a deep well during Uruguay's 1973-84 military rule, wept as he was sworn in to chair the Senate.

Mrs. Nora Castro, a Tupamaro guerrilla also imprisoned by the military, became the first woman to preside over the Chamber of Deputies in Uruguay's history.

Both renounced using violence for political ends two decades ago and joined the center-left coalition which for the last ten years has been headed by Socialist Tabare Vazquez, who will become Uruguay's first leftist president on March 1. The Broad Front won a landslide victory in last October presidential and congressional elections.

"This is a historic moment that no one thought would ever happen," fellow senator and Tupamaro member Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro told reporters. <snip>

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5125