Aparicio Méndez Manfredini (24 August 1904 – 27 June 1988) was a Uruguayan lawyer and political. He was a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

from 1976–1981 as a non-democratically elected authority of the civic-military dictatorship.

Background

Born in the northern city of

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

, Méndez was a member of the National Party, traditionally strong in the interior of the country whence he originated. He built up a reputation as an expert in administrative law. Méndez served as Health Minister from 1961 to 1964. In addition to his political life, Méndez was a close personal friend of the Spanish classical guitarist

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

. Segovia lived in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

during the 1940s, and came into contact with Méndez during this time. Segovia composed two original pieces for Méndez, the Anecdote #4 (published in ''Guitar Review Magazine'' in 1947), and the Preludio #8 (subtitled "on a theme by Aparicio Méndez") which was published by Edizioni Musicali Bèrben in 1998.

President of Uruguay

Méndez was one of various civilian political figures who participated in the civilian-military administration which took office following President

Juan Maria Bordaberry ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

's coup in 1973 at a time of great social tension. It was as one who had built a reputation for reliability with its military participants that he subsequently served as President for five years.

Free constitutional referendum

In 1980, Méndez's government held a constitutional referendum, the free nature of which was underlined by the fact that the electorate rejected the government's proposals.

Death and legacy

Méndez died in

in 1988. Some would argue that, in agreeing to serve as President with military support, Aparicio Méndez was effectively repudiating the principles of the National Party with which he had been associated. Others would point out that Méndez was far from alone among the various civilian party political figures who participated in the Civic-military dictatorship (1973–1985), and that he presided over a free referendum.

Background

President of Uruguay

Free constitutional referendum

Death and legacy

References

See also