This activity is part of a series of initiatives carried out by social and cultural groups in the town. Photo: EFE
Today, Uruguay celebrates 90 years since the first female vote in South America, a historic milestone of international relevance that took place in the Uruguayan town of Cerro Chato (central-east) on July 3, 1927.
The director of the National Institute for Women (Inmujeres), Mariella Mazzotti, expressed this opinion, telling Efe today that the historic event was of "great" significance for Uruguay and the region.
"It was something that emerged in a small rural town in Uruguay, and it's extremely significant because it's an expression of what the feminist social movement for suffrage was like at the beginning of the 20th century in the region," she said.
Mazzoti noted that the event exemplifies how Uruguay was already "consolidating a very broad democratic conception" at that time, given that in addition to women, the vote was also recognized at that time by Afro-descendants and foreigners, thus establishing its "very broad" concept of citizenship.
He noted that this activity is part of a series of initiatives carried out by local social and cultural groups to "leave a mark" on the country's collective memory.
The secretary of the Cerro Chato Local Council, Rosario Morena, said that her department plans to create a museum to pay tribute to the first voters, given that the Municipality of Durazno, one of the departments bordering the town, acquired the house where the voting took place.
Morena also pointed out that Cerro Chato won a prize from the country's Ministry of Tourism in 2016, which is why it is projected as a historic tourism destination. For his part, historian Julio Gómez explained that the vote was a plebiscite in which, given the ambiguous geographical location of the town, the citizens of Cerro Chato had to choose which department they belong to among the three closest ones, Durazno, Treinta y Tres and Florida.
Gómez, who will publish a book this year about the historic vote with her colleague Dwigth Lago Zeballos entitled "The First Female Citizens," noted that because it was an unusual situation, the government decided to consult all its residents, including women, which underscores the "progressive" nature of the political sector that governed at the time, the "Batllismo."
The historian also highlighted that the proposal was supported from the country's capital by the first feminist movement in Uruguay, led by activist Paulina Luisi, who sent a letter of encouragement to the women of Cerro Chato to go to the polls. According to Gómez, the vote was attended by around 354 people, including the vast majority (95%) of the women in the town.
Source: elnuevodiario.com.ni
