Weekly Report - 21 July 2011 (WR-11-29)

President José Mujica has a new defence minister. Mujica appointed Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro to replace Luis Rosadilla, who resigned for health reasons. Despite the fact that Fernández Huidobro, 69, was one of the founders of the Tupamaro guerrillas and spent a decade and a half in prison, his appointment will have played well to the armed forces. He pointedly stepped down as a senator in April after being forced by the leadership of the ruling Frente Amplio (FA) to toe the party line and vote in favour of striking down the amnesty law shielding members of the military from prosecution for human rights abuses during the dictatorship.