Embassy Montevideo has undertaken an aggressive commercial program coupled with efforts to remove Uruguayan legal and practical impediments to U.S. trade. The Embassy pursues improved cooperation in other areas such as protection of intellectual property, the environment, and law enforcement. The United States also seeks to strengthen democracy in Uruguay by improving civil-military relations, which are complicated. A long democratic tradition was interrupted by a 12-year period of military dictatorship beginning in 1973. Uruguay is a significant partner in international peacekeeping efforts, contributing specialized military units to a number of peacekeeping operations. The United States has a small counternarcotics assistance program to encourage Uruguayan efforts against money laundering and the transit of drugs.
The Embassy?s Mission Performance Plan provides a road map of clear performance indicators and is used as an ongoing management tool. The Embassy does an outstanding job of communicating its message to the Uruguayan public and elites, despite very limited staffing in the public affairs section. One of the post?s principal staff resources, the political/labor/economic/commercial section, needs better internal communication and more structured interaction with other mission units.
The consular section is adequately staffed to meet reduced needs in the wake of the application of the visa waiver program to Uruguay. Poor management within the section has led to morale problems and missed deadlines. The administrative section is well staffed and delivers excellent services. OIG made several recommendations to speed response time and bring post practice into alignment with Department policy. The current retirement ?system,? whereby FSN employees are left to plan for the future on their own, is unfair. The post and the Department should accelerate the effort to enroll employees in a responsible private retirement fund. The post should consider replacing the local guard force with a contract guard force. The increased cost that will occur should no longer be used as a pretext to postpone this essential step.
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