Situation of refugees and Brazilian exiles in Uruguay

Country
Brazil
Created

15/3/1971

This report was originally written in the Brazilian Embassy in Uruguay. It analyses the situation of refugees and Brazilian exiles in Uruguay, which fall under three main boxes according to their legal status: 1) political asylum seekers, 2) refugees (political or not), and 3) permanent residents.  Among the political exiles to receive asylum from the president of Uruguay were important figures such as João Goulart, Leonel Brizola, and Jefferson Cardim. The report dedicates several paragraphs to Goulart and Brizola, detailing their activities including Goulart’s potential trips to the United States and France and Brizola’s confinement in the small resort town of Atlántida in Uruguay. Whereas political refugees were individuals who entered Uruguay either illegally or with a tourist visa. The border between Brazil and Uruguay facilitated the movement of people and the possibility of accessing “territorial” asylum. Finally, permanent residents were people who had the right to apply for Uruguayan nationality on legal grounds.