Uruguay MODERN URUGUAY, 1875-1903 Sources: The Library of
Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook Between 1875 and
1886, political parties--as represented by the caudillo and the
university sectors--were in decline, and the military became the
center of power. A transition period (1886- 90) followed, during
which politicians began recovering lost ground, and there was
some civilian participation in government. Nevertheless,
political parties during this period were not parties in the
modern sense of the term. Nor, however, was the army a
professional institution despite its successful foreign and
domestic campaigns. Because of serious disturbances, Ellauri was
forced to resign in 1875. His successor, José Pedro Varela
(1875-76), curtailed liberties, arrested opposition leaders and
deported the most notable among them to Cuba, and successfully
quelled an armed rebellion. At the beginning of 1876, Colonel
Lorenzo Latorre (1876-80) assumed power; he was appointed
constitutional president in 1879, but the fo