Líber Seregni Mosquera (13 December 1916 – 31 July 2004) was a

Uruguayan 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 ...

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. In his youth he was a member of the Colorado Party. Under successive governments of that party, he had a successful military career until his retirement in 1968. In 1971, Seregni split with the Colorado Party. He founded the Broad Front (), a left-wing

political coalition This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreeme ...

, and was its presidential candidate in the general election of 1971. Banned and imprisoned by the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

, he was released in 1984. In 1989 he was once again presidential candidate in the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Early life

Seregni was born on 13 December 1916, in the

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

'' of

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 ...

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 ...

. His primary school education was at the "Escuela Brasil" ("Brazil School") in the

Pocitos :''Pocitos is also the colloquial name for the city of Salvador Mazza, Salta Province, Argentina'' Pocitos is an upscale beach ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) in Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo. Location This area is located along the ba ...

''barrio''. In 1937 he was arrested for participating in a demonstration in support of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

Military career

Seregni joined the

Army of Uruguay The National Army of Uruguay ( es, Ejército Nacional del Uruguay) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Organization The army consists of some 15,000 personnel organized into four divisions. His s ...

in 1931, and was promoted the

junior officer Junior officer, company officer or company grade officer refers to the lowest operational commissioned officer category of ranks in a military or paramilitary organization, ranking above non-commissioned officers and below senior officers. The ...

rank of

Alférez In medieval Iberia, an ''alférez'' (, ) or ''alferes'' (, ) was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate. The term is derived from the Arabic ('' al-fāris''), meaning "horseman" or "cavalier", and it was commonly Latinised ...

three years later. He rose to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1958 and to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in 1963. In 1959 Seregni organized the evacuation of

Paso de los Toros Paso de los Toros (''Bulls' Pass'') is a city of the Tacuarembó Department in Uruguay. History The Midland Uruguay Railway began operation in 1889 with a line that ran between Paso de los Toros and Salto. On 17 July 1903, the group of houses ...

when the city was flooded in the Uruguayan floods of April 1959. He served as

Military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

to the Uruguayan

Embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Seregni was appointed commander of the second military region of San José and then the first military region of

Post-Dictatorship and Death

In 1971, he made an unsuccessful run for president as the Frente Amplio candidate, receiving 18.3% of the vote (3rd place). From 1973 until 1984 he was imprisoned, as part of the proceedings of the military dictatorship of Uruguay. In 1989, after the end of the dictatorship, he made the 2nd attempt at the presidency and received 20,35% of the votes (2nd place). He died on 31 July 2004, of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

, three months before the Frente Amplio won the 2004 presidential elections. Seregni was given a

State funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, as the then current Colorado Party government directed.

Personal life

He married Lilí Lerena 1941; the couple had two daughters, Bethel and Giselle.

Honors

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (russian: международная Ленинская премия мира, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a pane ...

, 1980-1982. * Funeral with state honors, 2004.

References

External links

Frente Amplio: Gral. Líber Seregni

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seregni, Liber 1916 births 2004 deaths People from Montevideo Uruguayan people of Italian descent Uruguayan National Army generals Broad Front (Uruguay) politicians Candidates for President of Uruguay Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Uruguay Burials at the Central Cemetery of Montevideo Lenin Peace Prize recipients