MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan Defense Minister reviews troops in Middle East

Uruguay's Army has been in Sinai since the 1979 Camp David agreements

Uruguay's Defense Minister Javier García reviewed the South American country's peacekeeping mission in Sinai 40 years after its deployment.

“The Uruguayan State made the decision many years ago, forty years ago, to be here, in a very important mission that brought peace to a conflictive area,” García said while praising the professionalism of the Uruguayan troops in the area.

Uruguay's Army has been participating in the peacekeeping mission in Sinai since the signing of the Camp David agreements in March 1979.

García and Army Chief-of-Staff Julio Fregossi reviewed the troops stationed in Sinai after meeting with soldiers in the Golan Heights, during which they discussed their mission for the minister to know firsthand what the Uruguayan forces in the area feel and what they have ahead of them.

“With great intelligence and courage, Israel, Egypt, and the United States, providing the framework, committed themselves to guarding this zone of peace and Uruguay was among the countries they called to guarantee it. They did it because they know the hierarchy, professionalism, and specialty that our soldiers have to guarantee peace” said Garcia, who also met with authorities of the UN peace mission.

Unlike in Congo, where the Uruguayan troops are there to protect civilians, the South American country's troops in the Middle East are to ensure that the peace commitments undertaken are not violated.

The control task is carried out along a 70 km strip, which is divided between military contingents from Uruguay, Fiji, and Nepal. They patrol, verify and report possible situations in which international peace agreements are not being complied with.

García said that when he has conversations with military leaders of foreign forces he keeps being told that “Uruguay is a guarantee for all parties in peace missions.”

The minister also pointed out that the South American troops have contributed to conforming a “model of peace” which is seen with good eyes in the world as a way to consolidate it.