Washington Beltrán Mullin (6 April 1914 in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

– 19 February 2003) was a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an political figure.

Background

A journalist by profession, and son of deputy

Washington Beltrán Barbat Washington Beltrán Barbat (February 7, 1885 – April 2, 1920) was a Uruguayan political figure and journalist. Background and career Originally from Tacuarembó, Beltrán moved to Montevideo and became a lawyer and a prolific journalist and ...

, who was killed in 1920 in a duel with former

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

President

José Batlle y Ordóñez José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ( or ; 23 May 1856 – 20 October 1929), nicknamed ''Don Pepe'', was a prominent Uruguayan politician who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. The son of a former president, ...

, Washington Beltrán was a prominent member of the National (Blanco) Party (for some decades he joined the Independent National Party). He was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1958. From 1961, he also served as co-director of the newspaper

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

, which was founded by his father.

President of the Uruguayan National Council of Government

Elected in 1958 as a member of the National Council of Government, Beltrán presided over that body from 1965 till 1966, succeeding Luis Giannattasio who had died in office shortly after attending in official capacity the funeral of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Post presidency

In 1966, Beltrán was succeeded as President by

Alberto Héber Usher Alberto Héber Usher (May 1, 1918 – January 19, 1981) was a Uruguayan politician, who served as President of the Uruguayan National Council of Government from March 1, 1966, to March 1, 1967. Background Héber was born in Montevideo. His ...

. He was re-elected to the senate in 1966, and retired from politics following the coup by

Juan María Bordaberry Juan María Bordaberry Arocena (; 17 June 1928 – 17 July 2011), was an Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher who served as the 34th President of Uruguay from 1972 until his resignation in 1976 and the 1st President of the Civic-Military Dic ...

. In 1987 he was appointed Ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. The rivalry between the Uruguayan Blanco and Colorado parties was a feature of the country's history for more than a century, and, indeed, an intense part of Beltrán's family history. However, in the second round of the 1999 elections, the Blanco Beltrán publicly supported Colorado

Jorge Batlle Ibáñez Jorge Luis Batlle Ibáñez (; ''Batlle'' locally or ; 25 October 1927 – 24 October 2016) was a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, who served as the 38th president of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005. A member of the Colorado Party, he previously ser ...

for the presidency against Tabaré Vázquez.

Death

Beltrán died on 19 February 2003. He is buried at the Central Cemetery of Montevideo.

References

External links