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Key Factors: Uruguay is facing an
economic and social crisis driven by a
series of domestic and international
factors. Since 2000, the poverty rate
has risen 45%, and Uruguay's Peso
was depreciated in June 2002. That
year the average actual salary fell
an average of 10.7% compared to
2001. Over 70,000 Uruguayans have
migrated to foreign countries seeking
employment opportunities. At the
same time, efforts have been made
by the government to control public
spending, resulting in a continued lack of
inclusion and social integration for people
with disabilities.1
The terminology used to refer to people with disabilities varies within Uruguay's legislative framework. Although recent disability legislation uses the phrase "personas con discapacidad", translated as "people with disabilities," other terms remain in use. For example, Law 16095 uses both "personas con discapacidad" as well as "discapacitada," translated as "disabled people."2 Law
13102 uses the word "lisiado," translated here as "crippled."3 Law 644 uses the word "lisiado," translated as "handicapped." Likewise the Civil Code 1279 uses the term "sordomudos" translated as "deaf-mute." When directly quoting from legal documents, the original terminology has been utilized.
One of the main legal definitions of disability in Uruguay can be found in Law
16095, also known as the Equalization of Opportunities Act. The law provides the
following definition: "a person with disabilities is any individual having a permanent
or long-term functional impairment, either physical or mental, which according to
his or her age and social environment implies considerable disadvantages for his
or her familial, social, educational or labor integration."4 This definition is regularly
used by a variety of organizations within the country including the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO), the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the Ministry of
Research assistance was provided by Alfredo Martinote.
1. Daniel Olesker, Informe sobre Evolucion de la Pobreza en el Uruguay: 1998-2000 [Report on the Evolution of Poverty in Uruguay: 1998-2000], www.fing.edu.uy/adfi/mail/adur/doc00044. doc.
2. Law 16095, Equalization of Opportunities Act, art. 2, 26 October 1989.
3. Law 13102, Automobiles for the Crippled,18 October 1962; Felipe Martín (Director, Municipality Of Montevideo, Division Of Traffic And Transportation), interviewed by author, 20 October 2003.
4. Law 16095.
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