Gregorio Álvarez
| Gregorio Álvarez | |
|---|---|
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President of Uruguay De facto |
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In office September 1, 1981 – February 12, 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Aparicio Méndez |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Addiego |
| Commander-in-chief of the Uruguayan National Army |
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In office 1978–1979 |
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| Preceded by | Julio César Vadora |
| Succeeded by | Luis Vicente Queirolo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 26, 1925 Lavalleja, Uruguay |
| Died | December 28, 2016 (aged 91) Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse(s) | María del Rosario Flores |
| Profession | Military |
Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino (November 26, 1925 – December 28, 2016), also known as El Goyo, was an Uruguayan army general who served as the de facto president of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985 and was the last surviving President of the civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay.
Álvarez was born in Montevideo in 1925. He entered the Uruguayan Military Academy in 1940 and graduated as an officer of the cavalry regiment (1946-59). He became chief of the Republican Guard in Montevideo in 1962. In 1971, he was promoted to general and then named chief of the Combined Armed Forces Command that ran the counterinsurgency operation against the Tupamaros (urban guerrillas).
When the military seized power in 1973 Uruguayan coup d'état, Álvarez became permanent secretary of the new Consejo de Seguridad Nacional (National Security Council). In 1978, he became commander in chief of the army.
After Uruguay voted for a return to democracy in a referendum in 1980, the Consejo de Seguridad Nacional named Álvarez transitional president on September 1, 1981. Continuing the repression, not only against the Tupamaros but also against labor unions, he lost more popular support and also the support of the majority of the military. He agreed to the holding of legislative and presidential elections in November 1984, which had been preceded by internal party elections in 1982. When Julio María Sanguinetti of the Colorado Party won the presidential election, Álvarez resigned (on February 12, 1985). Rafael Addiego, President of the Supreme Court, then took office as interim president until Sanguinetti was sworn in on March 1. It might be added that while Alvarez did not look favourably upon Jorge Sanguinetti's candidacy in 1984, in his last years found a slightly unlikely defender in Sanguinetti, who argued that the amnesty relating to the dictatorship of 1973-1985 should not be set aside to prosecute even the more overtly military and unpalatable figures such as Álvarez, who were prominent during that period.
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