the Uruguayan economy, which had suffered from a deep depression until 1985, registered positive indicators with production growth, a reduction in inflation, stabilization of unemployment and an increase in exports. The confrontation with trade unions -which demanded separation from the IMF and non-payment of the national debt- was compensated with opening up agreements among political parties to strengthen the consensus between the parties in order to bring forward legislation which was in the general interest. The result of this consensus was the National Agreement which was signed on 1 April 1986 by PC, PN, the left-wing Broad Front (FA) and the conservative Unión Cívica (UC). Towards the end of his presidency, in spite of the agreements reached for its re-financing, Uruguay's foreign debt kept on increasing, always slightly below GDP, which was also reduced to a virtually inexistent growth rate. Inflation also experienced a strong increase and 1990 ended with a 130% inflation rate. A very particular aspect of his first term in office was the handling of the military issues. Uruguay had endured 12 long years of military dictatorship and the transition to democracy was very hard. Many opposition leaders and human-right organizations fought for truth and justice, and hundreds of cases were brought to the courts; but the military refused to cooperate, a political crisis was about to take place and, at the end of 1986, the very controversial Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State was passed by the Parliament. On 1 March 1990, Sanguinetti handed over the Presidency to Luis Alberto Lacalle, the PN candidate who had won the elections on 26 November 1989. Sanguinetti remained committed to journalism and to academic activities as well as to the internal politics of his party as the leader of the Batllist Forum, which had a Social Democratic ideology, the most important faction of PC along with Batllismo Unido, headed by Jorge Batlle. Among the several prominent politicians who served in his government can be mentioned: Enrique V. Iglesias, Antonio Marchesano, Ricardo Zerbino, Juan Vicente Chiarino, Adela Reta, Hugo Fernández Faingold, Luis Brezzo, Alejandro Atchugarry and Ariel Davrieux. Opposition leader Wilson Ferreira Aldunate played a key role in the definition of the most difficult issues for the democratic institutions. President of Uruguay, second term (1995-2000) Sanguinetti sought a second term in the 1994 presidential elections on 27 November, which he won with 24.7% of the