Abstract: The article analyzes socialist Yugoslavia’s stance towards Uruguay in the decade following the Second World War, using archival materials, relevant scholarship, and contemporary newspaper reporting. The introduction outlines diplomatic ties, beginning with Uruguay’s recognition of communist Yugoslavia and ending with the FNRJ embassy’s de facto independence in Montevideo. The section on economic cooperation examines trade exchanges over the entire period, focusing on existing contracts and trade volume. The final section explores Yugoslav emigrants’ activities in Uruguay, including their organization and connections to their homeland.
Keywords: Yugoslavia, Uruguay, diplomacy, economy, emigration
Summary
The Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay established relations in April 1946 when the Uruguayan side issued a decree recognizing the new Yugoslav authorities as legitimate. Despite this, the diplomatic representation in Montevideo only began operations in 1951. The representative in Buenos Aires was also accredited to Uruguay, and Vice Consul Vojislav Đukić stayed in Montevideo at the beginning. In late 1954, economist Mirčeta Čvorović was dispatched to Uruguay as a chargé d’affaires to foster cooperation, leading to the creation of the Yugoslav embassy in Uruguay, which was officially separated from the mission in Buenos Aires in 1957. Among the notable Yugoslav officials who visited Uruguay during this period was Veljko Vlahović, a representative of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Yugoslavia. Economic ties between the two countries were limited due to mutual ignorance of each other’s markets and economic conditions, a lack of interest from certain businesses, and long periods without formal agreements. However, in the decade following World War II, two commercial agreements were signed with Uruguay’s National Bank, and it was not until the mid-1950s, with the establishment of an embassy in Montevideo and the re-export of Uruguayan products by the Yugoslav side, that bilateral trade, particularly wool exports to FNRJ, began to grow. Between 5,000 and 10,000 Yugoslav emigrants resided in Uruguay, with most based in Montevideo. Prominent emigrant associations during this period included the Croatian Home, the First Slovenian Prekomursko društvo, the Yugoslav Republican Association “Bratstvo,” “Naša Tamburica,” and the Croatian Catholic Community. Most of these organizations primarily collaborated with the FNRJ embassy in Argentina and later with the representative office in Uruguay, while striving to preserve their internal autonomy.