Letter
Letter to President of Uruguay Bordaberry on Catholic Journal, Vispera, January 21, 1976
January 21, 1976
His Excellency Juan Maria Bordaberry
President of the Republic
Montevideo, Uruguay
Dear Sir:
On July 30, 1975 I sent a letter, a copy of which is enclosed r to your ambassador in Washington, General Perez Caldas. The letter was a request for clarification of the reasons which caused your government to close permanently the Catholic journal, Vispera.
As one of several national episcopal conferences which had provided some financial support for Vispera, we are justifiably concerned to know why the publication was considered subversive.
In particular, we wished to understand the meaning of the executive decree ordering the closing of Vispera which implies that Vispera's sources of external support were "subversive movements at work in Latin America and other continents [seeking] to destroy legitimate institutional order. .. "
Receiving no response from your embassy in Washington, my office telephoned the Ambassador on October 9, 1975 and was informed that there was no record of the Embassy having received my letter of July 30. We were assured that if such a letter had been received, it would surely have been answered.
I therefore sent another copy of the same letter, now dated October 10, 1975, and awaited response. On January 6, 1976 and again on January 7 my staff called the embassy and each time was informed that the Ambassadors's secretary would call back. We have waited two more weeks and nothing has happened.
Since it appears that we will receive no information from your representative in Washington, I am taking the liberty of addressing the question directly to Your Excellency. I would greatly appreciate hearing from you in this matter.
Very sincerely yours,
Bishop James S. Rausch
General Secretary