Police have arrested former dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry and his foreign minister in connection with four "Dirty War" killings dating to 1976, officials said Friday.

The arrest of Bordaberry, 78, and former Foreign Minister Juan Blanco marked a new chapter in efforts by this small South American country to grapple with the 1973-85 dictatorship and its legacy of disappearances, torture and exile of thousands of political dissidents.

Bordaberry and Blanco, who was the first to be detained after a judge's arrest warrants were issued late Thursday, were taken to the main police investigations unit, police spokesman Celso Sosa said.