Pastorino Enrique

Born Mar. 6, 1918, in Montevideo. A leader of the Uruguayan and international labor movements.

Between 1931 and 1946, Pastorino, the son of a worker, was a packinghouse laborer, an agricultural worker, and a worker at shoe factories in Montevideo. He became secretary of the leather workers’ union in 1941 and joined the Communist Party of Uruguay (CPU) in 1942.  A candidate member of the Central Committee (CC) of the CPU in 1946–47, Pastorino became a full member in 1947, a member of the CC’s Executive Committee in 1950, and secretary of the CC in charge of trade union work in 1951. He was secretary for organizational affairs of the General Workers’ Union (GWU) of Uruguay from 1946 to 1950, secretary-general of the GWU from 1950 to 1961, and secretary of the Central Council of Workers of Uruguay from 1961 to 1966. In 1966 he became a member of the leadership and secretary-general of the National Workers’ Convention of Uruguay. He was a deputy to the general assembly from 1951 to 1959.

Pastorino became a member of the executive committee of the general council of the World Federation of Trade Unions in 1953. After serving as a vice-president of the federation from 1957 to 1969, he became president in October 1969. The Uruguayan government has used its laws regulating trade union activity to persecute Pastorino.

Pastorino has been awarded the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace between Nations (1973).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979).