Arismendi, Rodney (1913–1989)

views updated

Arismendi, Rodney (1913–1989)

Rodney Arismendi (b. 22 March 1913; d. 27 December 1989), leader of the Communist Party of Uruguay. Arismendi was born in the city of Río Branco in the department of Cerro Largo. He studied law in Montevideo, where he was a prominent student leader. During this period he joined the Communist Party, whose secretary general, Eugenio Gómez, had held the office since the party's inception. Arismendi took over for Gómez as secretary general in 1955 and held the office until 1989. As a journalist and director of the daily Diario Popular, he was forced into exile but was elected a representative to Parliament in 1946, and went on to serve a number of terms in the legislature. In 1973 Arismendi was imprisoned by the military regime and later deported; he lived for more than ten years in the Soviet Union. Returning to Uruguay in 1984, he was elected to the senate, an office he held until his death.

Arismendi was one of the principal pro-Soviet Marxist theorists in Latin America, publishing several books on ideological themes and playing an important role in the creation of the leftist Frente Amplio. After his death, he was replaced as secretary general of the Communist Party by Jaime Pérez, a former union leader.

See alsoUruguay, Political Parties: Communist Party .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Martin Weinstein, Uruguay: Democracy at the Crossroads (1988).

Gerardo Caetano and José Rilla, Breve historia de la dictadura (1991).

Additional Bibliography

Barros-Lémez, Alvaro. Arismendi: Forjar el viento. Montevideo: Monte Sexto, 1987.

                                JosÉ de Torres Wilson