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IV

URUGUAY
The  first  European  who  set  foot  on  Uruguayan ­
  soil  was  the  man  who  discovered  the
Rio  de  la  Plate—Juan  Diaz  de  Solis.  This
was  in  1508.  He  and  his  associates  were  immediately ­
  attacked  by  the  Charruca  Indians,
who  annihilated  the  party.  Later  on  Portuguese ­
  settlers  from  Brazil  attempted  to  colonize ­
  this  land,  but  they  met  with  repulses,
as  did  also  the  Spanish  colonists  who  followed
them.  As  a  result  of  the  invasion  of  this  territory ­
  by  Portuguese  and  Spanish  it  was  claimed
by  both  these  countries  and  became  a  bone  of
contention  between  them  for  more  than  two
hundred  years.  The  Portuguese  colonists
were  finally  routed  bodily  and  their  city  of
Montevideo,  founded  in  1724,  came  under
control  of  the  Spanish  Viceroy.  Portugal