Julio María Sanguinetti

Sanguinetti took office in March 1985 as Uruguay returned to elected constitutional government after military rule. His administration helped restore ordinary political life, but the settlement carried a serious accountability cost. The 1986 Expiry Law restricted prosecution of dictatorship-era abuses, following military resistance and parliamentary bargaining. His case makes the distinction particularly clear: restoring civilian office-holders and establishing equal exposure to the law were separate tasks, with sharply different results.