Uruguay's President to behead military if disappeared are not found

Tabare Vazquez may oust top military commanders after weeks of unsuccessful search for the remains of people detained and disappeared in military grounds

Uruguay's Socialist President Tabare Vazquez weighs beheading the national Armed Forces after months of unsuccessful search for the remains of people detained and disappeared in military grounds during the rule of the juntas between 1973 and 1985. Excavations are being carried away in the capital Montevideo and other regions of the country by a joint commission formed by the military and civilian authorities, following maps and documents provided by top Army and Navy officers.

Vazquez obtained from these officers documentation about the fate of those opponents to the military rule killed by the juntas and a promise to collaborate in the research. However, the action has been slow and signs of impatience are coming from a majority of Uruguayans that voted for Vazquez last year in an attempt to shed light to the darkest moments in the history of this South American country.

According to press reports from Montevideo, thousands of Uruguayans, together with mothers and families of detained and missing people, marched from the University of the Republic to the historic Cagancha Square on Friday night. Relatives of victims of the 1973-1985 dictatorship carried posters with pictures of those missing in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.

Demonstrators said Uruguay is going through a different historic period thanks to the support of the progressive government of President Tabare Vazquez to investigate disappearances and clandestine burials of people in military plots of land. But they question the documentation army commanders handed the government as a fake.

Around 200 Uruguayan citizens were killed for being opponents to the dictatorship inaugurated by former constitutional president Juan Maria Bordaberry. The former leader is charged with violating the Uruguayan Constitution, as he co-authored the murder of former legislators Zelmar Michelini and Hector Gutierrez Ruiz in 1976.

On the photo: Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez