[3] In Uruguay he set up a mill and became a flour and wheat merchant, and during the emancipation struggles of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, he participated in the defense of Montevideo from the English invasion, in support of the metropolis.

The eldest of the brothers, José was a journalist and politician who served as president in two terms, carrying out important social and labor reforms, such as the separation of Church and State, the introduction of universal suffrage and the eight-hour workday, as well as free high school education, and divorce.

[8] He developed Batllism, an ideology that defends state control of the basic aspects of the economy through monopoly, in addition to the sanction of social laws.

[12] His nephew, Luis Batlle Berres —son of Luis Batlle y Ordóñez and his wife Petrona Berres y Mc Intyre, of Irish descent—, whom he raised since the death of his brother, had a more successful political career, since in the 1946 elections he was elected Vice President and in August 1947 he took office as president after the death of Tomás Berreta.

[14] Jorge Luis served as president from 2000 to 2005, being the fourth member of the family to hold the position, descending in a direct line from Josep Batlle y Carrió.