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, Hundreds protest femicide in Uruguay, TeleSur, 2018

Reports on one of the most infamous case of a 68-year old woman who was killed by her partner, which gave rise to widespread protests against femicide in Uruguay. Uruguay’s penal code introduced femicide only in April 2018.
Anderson, Cora, Decriminalizing Abortion in Uruguay: Women’s Movements, Secularism, and Political Allies, Journal of Women, Politics, & Policy, Vol. 38, no. 2, 2016, pp. 221-246

In 2012 Uruguay became the second country in Latin America to decriminalize abortion during the first trimester. Drawing on original field research, this article argues that the reform was due to the existence of a strong campaign for decriminalization. The women’s movement framed their case to resonate within civil society, gathered support from key social actors, and collaborated closely with sympathetic legislators. Success was also due to the limited influence of the Catholic Church, a president open to abortion reform, and a highly institutionalized party system creating a strong leftist coalition.
Arrarte, Edison, Refusal to Participate in Torture, In Pentikainen, Merja , The Right to Refuse Military Orders Geneva, International Peace Bureau, , 1994, pp. 42-45

Arrarte is the most famous of the Uruguayan soldiers who refused to torture, and served a total of 10 years in prison for his conscience. After the dictatorship, he went on to become a general and an active member of Amnesty International.
Bloomer, Fiona ; Pierson, Claire ; Estrada, Sylvia, Reimagining Global Abortion Politics: A Social Justice Perspective, Bristol and Chicago, Policy Press, 2020, pp. 176

This book uses case studies from a range of countries to provide a transnational and interdisciplinary analysis of trends in abortion politics, and considers how religion, nationalism, and culture impact on abortion law and access. It also explores the impact of international human rights norms and the role of activists on law reform and access to abortion. Finally the authors examine the future of abortion politics through the more holistic lens of ‘reproductive justice’. The countries included are: Argentina, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Uruguay and the US.
Corradi, Juan E. ; Fagen, Patricia Weiss ; Garreton, Manuel Antonio, Fear at the Edge: State Terror and Resistance in Latin America, ed. Corradi, Juan E., Fagen, Patricia Weiss, Garreton, Manuel Antonio, Berkeley CA, University of California Press, 1992, pp. 301

Documents impact of state terror on society in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay from 1950s to 1980s, and the emergence of resistance in various sectors.
Drake, Paul, Labor Movements and Dictatorships: the Southern Cone in Comparative Perspective, Baltimore MD, John Hopkins University Press, 1996, pp. 253

In addition to detailed analysis of Argentine, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, has comparative discussion with European dictatorships – Greece, Portugal, and Spain.
Finch, Henry, Democratization in Uruguay, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 2, no. 3, 1985, pp. 594-609

Analysis of evolution of opposition from 1983: from saucepan banging, one-day general strikes and 250,000 strong rally on the last Sunday of November 1983 (the traditional day for elections); the electoral politics of 1984 and public sector strike of January-February 1985.
Franceschet, Susan ; Krook, Mona Lena ; Tan, Netina, The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights, ed. Ennaji, Moha, Sadiqi, Fatima, Vintges, Karen, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 784

Covers women’s political rights across all major regions of the world, focusing both on women’s right to vote and women’s right to run for political office. The countries explored are Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States, Uganda, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.
Kaufman, Edy, The Role of the political parties in the redemocratization of Uruguay, In Sosnowski, Saul ; Popkin, Louise B., Repression, Exile and Democracy: Uruguayan Culture Durham NC, Duke University Press, , 1993, pp. 272, pp. 17-58

Includes references to role of ‘truly peaceful resistance’ in 1983.
Loveman, Mara, High-Risk Collective Action: Defending Human Rights in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 104, no. 2, 1998, pp. 477-525

Phillips, Tom ; Booth, Amy ; Goni, Uki, "We Did It!” A Milestone for Women as Abortion is Legalised, Guardian Weekly, 2021, pp. 15-16

Reports the jubilation of pro-choice demonstrators in Buenos Aires after the Senate (which had voted down legalization of abortion in 2018) passed a law allowing termination in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy for any reason.  Argentina became then third South American country (after Uruguay and Guyana) to decriminalize abortion, and there are likely to b repercussions across the region. The authors summarize the five years of mass campaigning by the women’s movement in Argentina that led to this result.

See also: ‘Green Wave, Blue Water: Abortion in Latin America’, Economist, 9 Jan. 2021, pp.41-2.

This article discusses the significance of and probable repercussions of the legalization of abortion in Argentina, in the context of the generally very restrictive position in many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.  The article notes the possible positive repercussions in Peru and Mexico and that legalizing abortion may be raised in proposed constitutional change in Chile.  But the article also warns that the Argentinian law will mobilize forces strongly opposed to abortion.
Prandini, Mariana, Liberating abortion pills in legally restricted settings, in Henne, Kathryn and Rita Shah (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Public Criminologies, In , New York and London, Taylor & Francis, pp. 120-130

Mariana Prandini examines how Brazilian feminists mobilized against the criminalization of abortion in August 2018, when people from different countries in Latin America gathered for a week for the Festival for Women’s Lives. Brazilian, Uruguayan and Argentinian activists exchanged information about their own struggles for abortion rights. Prandini also analyses the criminalization of the abortion pill and its effect on abortion activism in Brazil.
Roberts, Katherine, Uruguay: Nonviolent resistance and the pedagogy of human rights, In McManus; Schlabach, Relentless Persistence: Nonviolent Action in Latin America (E. IV.1. General and Comparative Studies), Philadelphia PA, New Society Publishers, pp. 100-117

Sanguinetti, Julio Maria, Present at the Transition, In Diamond, Larry ; Plattner, Marc F., The Global Resurgence of Democracy Baltimore MD, John Hopkins University Press, , 1993, pp. 432, pp. 53-60

Sanguinetti, a lawyer and journalist, was President from 1985-1990 and played a central role in the negotiations at various times between 1980 and 1984 and notes the importance of dialogue, although this is a more broad ranging analysis of forms of transition.
Sosnowski, Saul ; Popkin, Louise B., Repression, Exile and Democracy: Uruguayan Culture, ed. Sosnowski, Saul, Popkin, Louise B., Durham NC, Duke University Press, 1993, pp. 272

Weinstein, Martin, Uruguay: The Politics of Failure, Westport CT, Greenwood Press, 1975, pp. 190

Weinstein, Martin, Uruguay: Democracy at the Cross Road, Boulder CO, Westview Press, 1988, pp. 160

For Weinstein’s account of the background to the 1973 coup, see: Weinstein, Martin , Uruguay: The Politics of Failure Westport CT, Greenwood Press, , 1975, pp. 190 .