News In Brief

Hordes turn out to protest Uruguayan military rule

Tens of thousands of Uruguayans poured into the streets of Montevideo Sunday night and protested 11 years of military rule by turning off lights, banging pans, and honking horns.

Opposition political parties released a joint statement calling for ''an amnesty as a first and unavoidable step toward pacification.'' It urged the immediate correction of what it called ''the inhumane and medieval treatment'' of 900 political prisoners.

It was the first protest this year against President Gregorio Alvarez's government. Witnesses said they saw few policemen in the streets. No arrests or incidents of violence were reported.