Tabaré Vázquez legalized the vilification of national symbols

The crime of desecration of national symbols in Uruguay referred to the act of disparaging, offending, defacing, or outraging in public the State flags, the coat of arms, the national anthem, or other official emblems of the country.

However, in 2009 during the first government of the Frente Amplio this crime was decriminalized with the enactment of Law 18,515 of 2009, which repealed several criminal offenses related to the offense against national symbols.

According to Uruguayan legislation, national symbols include the Uruguayan flag, the coat of arms, the national anthem, the Artigas flag, the flag of the 33 Orientales, and the oath of allegiance.

These are regulated by Law 17,667 of 2003 and are arranged hierarchically to promote civic respect.

Before 2009

Before 2009, desecration of national symbols was classified in the Uruguayan Penal Code (articles related to crimes against internal political order).

It was also included in Decree-Law No. 10,279 of 1942 (literal K of article 6), which punished with prison sentences (generally from 3 months to 2 years) acts such as incitement to contempt for the Nation or to desecration of the symbols.

This included actions in public places or through mass dissemination, such as burning the flag or ridiculing the anthem.

Law 18,515, approved on December 28, 2009, explicitly repealed literal K of article 6 of Decree-Law 10,279, eliminating the penalization of desecration of national symbols.

The promoters of the repeal

This regulation to repeal the crime was promoted by far-left organizations, such as PIT-CNT and FEUU.

At that time, several politicians from the Frente Amplio and some union leaders said that this crime should be eliminated from the Penal Code because it was "conservative."

Preparing the ground

In 2009, almost no one admitted the repeal of the crime; however, the left was preparing the ground to begin the outrage against the symbols that represent everyone.

In a silent and treacherous manner, a regulation was repealed that prohibits any scoundrel from burning the national flag or spitting on the flag of the Hero Artigas.

Furthermore, since 2009 it has been legalized to place the multicolored flag of the LGBT lobby next to the national flags.

This is even happening in state institutions, as is currently the case at the School of Information and Communication of UdelaR.

This way, the Uruguayan left, always totalitarian, anti-national, and destructive of the values that unite all Uruguayans, eliminated as a crime the defacing of the national flag or publicly destroying the coat of arms of Uruguay.

They are the same totalitarians as always, those who want to destroy the foundations of nationality by outraging symbols that unite all Uruguayans, defiling national values that have 200 years of history.

In 2009, Vázquez was preparing the fertile ground for what would come next, replacing the national flags with the flag of the LGBT lobby, even placing lights with this lobby's flag in the Legislative Palace.

Over the years, it is now clear that the repeal of this crime in 2009 was not accidental. It was a betrayal of all Uruguayans.