Universindo Rodríguez Díaz

The biggest peaceful demonstration of resistance to an authoritarian regime in Latin America in the 1970s was the general strike whereby Uruguayan workers and students rejected the military coup of 27 June 1973. In this documentary we follow what happened from two perspectives: that of the people who took part in the mass mobilisation, and that of those who captured those events in images.

Héctor Rodríguez (1918-1996) was one of the outstanding figures in the people's movement in Uruguay. He was a textile worker and also a member of parliament for the Communist Party, and he was expelled from their ranks in the 1950s. He was a journalist, a militant activist and a political prisoner, and a key force in trade union unity and left wing politics in Uruguay. His life was bound up with some of the most important events in the history of this country after 1930. As well as Héctor's own testimony we have the voices of textile workers, intellectuals, union members and politicians, in a rich mixture of archive film and photographs.