In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Uruguay, a small but prosperous country sandwiched between two massive South American powerhouses, Brazil and Argentina. Widely considered one of the most politically stable and progressive countries in Latin America, Uruguay is home to just over 3.5 Million people and almost ten times as many sheep.

By land mass, it is the second-smallest nation in the region. After a four-way struggle between Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay declared its independence in 1825. The country then stabilised until the 1950s, when political turmoil ensued. In more recent years, Uruguay escaped the recession that spread throughout South America in the early 2000s, and has since emerged as a bastion of democracy, progressive policies and free speech.

Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle). Full show notes on our website: https://80dayspodcast.com/2017/05/29/uruguay/

*Topic list*: [02:12] Intro - Homer Simpson and trampy birds[08:30] Horny dirty Europeans and laissez faire gauchoing[15:00] The inevitable British interest[18:08] Artigas uncontemplative - not a calm guy[27:23] If you liked Artigas you'll love many endless wars forever[33:46] Colorados vs Blancos - mob on mob violence[40:39] Flores - Warlords don't like peace, shoot your gauchos[49:30] Jose Batlle - Mr 20th Century Uruguay[57:54] WW2 - neutral, until it's over and then they're totally against Hitler[1:06:08] Old timey radio show on Uruguay... is a bit dismissive of poor women[1:14:46] Pacheqism - NOT to be confused with pacifism, too much torture for that[1:16:30] Alive - plane crash and things only get worse from there[1:23:28] South America in the 80s, how do you think it's gonna go - "Politics is finished, I'm the leader."[1:30:38] Modern day - cannabis, football, music and good times