Uruguay Minister Flew to Japan on New Year's to Mend Ties After Terrorist Crisis

In a dramatic move to salvage diplomatic relations, Uruguay's Foreign Minister Álvaro Ramos embarked on a New Year's Day trip to Japan in 1997. The urgent journey was prompted by a severe diplomatic crisis stemming from Uruguay's decision to release two members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) who had been arrested the previous year.

The situation escalated dramatically when Uruguay's ambassador in Tokyo conveyed the gravity of the diplomatic fallout, stating that Japan was on the verge of severing ties. Minister Ramos, upon receiving this urgent message, immediately contacted President Julio María Sanguinetti, who authorized the trip. Ramos then informed his son to pack, as they were heading to Japan within hours, interrupting their Christmas holidays.

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Zulma says the Japanese want to break up. The only way to correct this is for you to travel and explain.

The core of the crisis lay in the Uruguayan Tribunal of Appeals' decision on December 24, 1996, to deny the extradition of Luis Alberto Miguel Samaniego and Silvia Sonia Gora Rivera to Peru. These individuals were implicated in the kidnapping of a Bolivian businessman. Their subsequent release led to significant anger from the governments of Japan, Peru, and Bolivia, who felt Uruguay's actions jeopardized the safety of other hostages and signaled a willingness to concede to terrorist demands.

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I need you in Japan now. We will break relations if you don't come.

This release was particularly sensitive as it occurred shortly after the siege of the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima on December 17, 1996. During the siege, MRTA militants took hundreds of guests hostage, including Uruguay's ambassador to Peru, Tabaré Bocalandro. The freeing of the MRTA members in Uruguay was perceived as a direct exchange for Bocalandro's release, a move that deeply displeased the involved nations.

The Uruguayan ambassador in Tokyo warned Minister Ramos that the argument of separation of powers was not effectively mitigating the situation. She described the diplomatic climate as the most difficult of her career. Despite the tension, Ramos's trip aimed to explain Uruguay's position, emphasizing that the judiciary's decision was independent of the executive branch, a distinction that seemed lost on the increasingly frustrated Japanese government.

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The determination of the Court of Appeals to deny extradition to Peru for the kidnapping of a Bolivian businessman, adopted on December 24, 1996, had allowed the immediate release of the Uruguayan ambassador in Peru, Tabaré Bocalandro.