The guerrilla movement of national liberation, the Tupamaros, of which Pepe Mujica was one of the leaders, kidnapped the Brazilian consul in Montevideo for over 200 days between 1970 and 1971.
Diplomat Aloysio Dias Gomide was kidnapped at the age of 41 at his home in the Uruguayan capital on July 31, 1970. To enter the housing, where were also the consul’s wife and children, the guerrillas pretended to be workers from the state telephone service. Gomide was taken to her own car, still wearing pajamas.
At the same time, the Tupamaros kidnapped Dan Mitrione, head of the US police mission in Uruguay, but according to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo at the time, failed to try to kidnap two more US diplomats.
The kidnapping of the Brazilian and US diplomats was part of a guerrilla plan, named “Satan Plan” to force the Uruguayan government to free political prisoners.
Despite the supplications of Brazilian consul’s wife, Maria Aparecida Gomide, the Uruguayan president of the time, Jorge Pacheco Areco, refused to negotiate with the Tupamaros.
Police operations were performed to identify the diplomat’s whereabouts, especially after the British ambassador to Montevideo, Geoffrey Jackson, was also kidnapped.
But the searches did not bear fruit. In one of the letters sent by Gomide of the captivity to his wife, he said he said the proximity of his death.
Campaign for Diplomat Release
Faced with the intransigence of the Uruguayan government of the time when talking to guerrillas, Maria Aparecida took the reins of negotiation and a campaign to raise a million dollars required by the kidnappers.
She participated in television programs, received support from Gomide’s friends who promoted a caravan in Rio de Janeiro to help her in the campaign, and banks who were willing to open accounts on their behalf for fundraising in hundreds of agencies.
Newspapers of the time report that the population mobilized, making huge lines to contribute money and contacting it to offer donations of items such as watches to help with the collection.
The Consul was released after 205 days of kidnapping on February 21, 1971, after the payment of the ransom money by Maria Aparecida, who negotiated directly with the guerrillas in Uruguay.
At the time of the kidnapping, Mujica was stuck in the Punta Carretas penitentiary. In the book Commander Facundo, which romantizes the former president’s life, Uruguayan journalist Walter Penas says that in this prison the idea of kidnapping diplomats to demand the release of prisoners for Tupamaros.
The book does not include the former president as a participant in the preparation of the plan, but states that he agreed with the idea, who came from members of the “direction” of the movement and in particular Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro, who would later become Minister of Mujica Defense.
After passing through Uruguay, Gomide was still ambassador to Brazil in Haiti. The Brazilian diplomat passed away in 2015, at the age of 86, after suffering a cardiac arrest.
This content was originally published in Mujica’s guerrilla movement kidnapped Brazilian consul in Uruguay on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
