The movement in favor of a Universidad del Norte in Salto: from local grievance to right-wing offensive (1968-1973)

Abstract

The article traces the trajectory of the Movimiento pro Universidad del Norte (MUN) [Pro-Northern University Movement] founded in late 1968 in the city of Salto in northern Uruguay, with the aim of pushing for the establishment of a university in the region to serve as an alternative to that of Montevideo. With Uruguay mired in a grave economic, social and political crisis and a debate running between the Executive Office and the Universidad de la República on the future of higher education, the movement reconfigured one of Salto’s long-standing demands. This demand had originally united various social and political sectors that lacked affiliation to a political party, as a banner for groups that ended up supporting the shift to authoritarianism over time. It also relied on the support of the department’s driving forces, professional corporations, local administrators and representatives of the departmental government linked to conservative sectors of the traditional parties. Among its adherents, it is worth mentioning radical right-wing student organization Juventud Salteña de Pie (JSP), a direct antecedent of Juventud Uruguaya de Pie (JUP) created in October 1970, due to its subsequent relevance. National backing came from various political actors and groups as well as right-wing media entities. The MUN also inspired intense mobilization among regional and national bodies to the point that it gained the backing of Jorge Pacheco Areco’s government. For these sectors, the founding of another state university constituted an opportunity to impose an institutional-political model different to that which prevailed in the Universidad de la República