Lebanon–Uruguay relations
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Lebanon–Uruguay relations are foreign relations between Lebanon and Uruguay. Uruguay recognized Lebanon's independence on November 22, 1943. Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 25, 1945. Lebanon has an embassy in Montevideo. Uruguay has an embassy in Beirut.
Both countries are members of the Group of 77.
The first Lebanese immigrants to Uruguay arrived in the 1860s. In 1954 there were 15,000 people of Lebanese descent living in Uruguay. By 2009 the number had grown to about 55,000. In 1997, Uruguay's house speaker noted that its 99-seat parliament contains two members of Lebanese origin, including himself.
In 1924 Uruguay established an Honorary Consulate in Beirut, and on November 16, 1928 made it a Consulate General for the State of Greater Lebanon and Syria. On October 25, 1945 the Government of Uruguay was one of the first countries to open diplomatic relations with the newly independent state of Lebanon, upgrading their Beirut mission to an Embassy. In 1954 the Lebanese President Camille Chamoun visited Uruguay. On May 31, 1954 he signed the first treaty between the two countries in Montevideo.
From 1946 to 1963, Lebanon was represented in Uruguay by an Honorary Consulate of Lebanon in Montevideo. From 1963, Lebanon was represented through their Embassy of Lebanon Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1971, Lebanon established a diplomatic mission in Montevideo, with representation at the ambassadorial level.
In December 1999, Zafer El-Hasan, secretary general of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, held bilateral talks with Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Rodriguez Pioli about enhancing relations between the two countries in the political, economic and cultural fields. Pioli was visiting Lebanon with a delegation of businessmen of Lebanese origin. The two representatives signed an agreement on cultural cooperation.
There has been controversy in Uruguay about relations with Lebanon. Julio María Sanguinetti of the Partido Colorado, president from 1995 to 2000, said in an interview after losing power that Uruguay was wrong to support Lebanon in disputes with Israel due to Lebanon's failure to combat terrorism.
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