I've read about your reasons for leaving (security), and sadly, I have to agree that they're still an issue (and I'd love living in Switzerland).
I think the risk can be minimized though. Ideally I'd want to live in Punta del Este or Maldonado rather than Montevideo, and the countryside is still pretty safe (though a computer nerd might die of boredom there :P ).
If its not too personal can you share some general information what nationality you have or had while applying to the German citizenship and what were the main reasons it didn't work out.
When he went to obtain a German citizenship, he was asked to bring in a lot of additional paperwork (a church birth certificate being one I think). One of my uncles went to Germany to try to obtain it, but it was in vain.
I wasn't going to be granted German citizenship unless my grandfather, and then my father, were granted German citizenship.
My grandfather was as German as they come, but due to those quirks he wasn't granted citizenship, and so I wasn't able to.
I'd be curious to know why this is the case for you.
Another example: people trying to hijack a car stopped in a traffic light. In broad daylight. While a news crew was filming. And a policeman was standing 100m away: https://plus.google.com/+GabrielGambetta/posts/fbZo1YVLeet
They have also given too much power to the unions, to the point that they can legally steal a factory from their owners, for example (in a nutshell, occupying it until it goes bankrupt, and then assuming control "to save jobs") Also, just before their first term in power, Uruguay had just came out of a terrible economic crisis that affected the whole region; basically, Argentina fell, and Uruguay is too small and dependent to have avoided it (and the old government was blamed). During the last decade the whole region has improved, so the economic situation in Uruguay is quite good right now (and the new government takes credit). But the worst thing is the way they're squandering this money in sort-of-well-meaning but very badly implemented "social" policies, so when the "up" economic cycle turns into a "down" economic cycle and the easy money runs out, there will be no reserves, a disfunctional and violent society, truly pathetic education level [3],... it's a ticking bomb.
[1] http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/ninos-mataron-amigo-hor... (two kids, 11 and 14, killed their 11 year old friend with a machete, and then went playing football)
[2] http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/15613143/Mujica-el-terrori... http://diurnarius.com/jose-mujica-de-ladron-a-presidente/ http://www.periodistadigital.com/opinion/politica/2009/11/30...
(When Australia hosted the Summer Olympics, it was actually winter in Australia.)
On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend living in Uruguay; I had very good reasons to leave and I don't see myself returning anytime soon. And I'd argue any European passport is better than an Uruguay one - you can freely live and work in Europe, and you can visit the US without any visa.