- Dates
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Amnesty for Uruguay
MEMORANDUM
The current circumstances in our country, Uruguay, with one of the most oppressive dictatorships on the continent, are characterised by all forms of human rights violations, the systematic torture of its political prisoners and the will to exterminate all the democratic forces still alive among these Eastern people. This is why we Uruguayans from Spain and various countries in Europe and America are today joining forces to organise and make 1979 the year of the ‘Campaign for Amnesty’ for our political prisoners and for all those who have suffered and continue to suffer human rights violations in our country.
It should be noted that this ‘Campaign for Amnesty’ will be carried out in different countries under a promotional poster designed by the Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies.
From this point of view, our efforts in Spain – and specifically in Barcelona – will involve a series of mobilisation and awareness days to inform of the situation in Uruguay. All democratic political and cultural organisations in Spain and Catalonia will be called upon to participate in solidarity to promote this ‘Campaign for Amnesty’, whose framework will include the following programme beginning in September:
a) Activities:
1) Collect materials, testimonies and allegations of human rights violations with the dual purpose of:
a) setting up a prosecution tribunal against the Uruguayan dictatorship, and
b) using these and other materials to prepare the publication of a book that will be a testimony of this process in the dictatorship.
2) Provide information about the current situation in Uruguay to all the cultural centres in Barcelona through discussions, photo exhibitions, etc.
b) Exhibitions:
1) An exhibition with a message featuring drawings by Catalan children will be organised by the Escola Rosa Sensat under the title Message from Catalan Children to Uruguayan Children: International Year of the Child. This show will be displayed in various schools in Barcelona and in cultural centres in which it is deemed appropriate.
2) Exhibition at the Fundació Joan Miró from 15 September to 7 October this year.
c) Events:
At least two political events will be held to open and close the ‘Campaign for Amnesty’ throughout its unfolding.
Catalan-Uruguayan exhibition programme at the Fundació Joan Miró:
The person in charge of preparing and installing the exhibition is Mr Antoni Strain (sic, Estrany).
The exhibition will consist of works by more than forty Catalan and Uruguayan artists who have collaborated on the exhibition, whether in painting or sculpture. There will also be a portfolio of poems and illustrated texts on display in the exhibition, given that they are considered appropriate for the exhibition.
The exhibition will be inaugurated on 15 September with a meeting between Catalan and Uruguayan artists (visual artists, writers, journalists, etc.) that will include a screening of films and slides illustrating the situation in Uruguay.
The first phase of the ‘Campaign for Amnesty 1979’ will conclude with the closing of the exhibition on 6 October, culminating in a major political event on that day.
Joan Garcia Grau
Carmen Gayaralde
Susana Maiten
Cristina Peri Rossi
