Benavides was born in
Tacuarembó,
Uruguay. During the 1950s, Benavides contributed to the magazine
Asir. In 1955, he published his first book , a satire of various personalities in his native city. After that he devoted himself heavily to poetry, eventually earning himself a place among the most important Uruguayan poets of his generation. During the dictatorship of
Juan María Bordaberry, he promoted the revolutionary possibilities of popular music. Benavides taught literature at secondary schools in Paso de los Toros and Montevideo, including at
Liceo Héctor Miranda, where he remained until 1996. He also joined the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Letters of the
University of the Republic, Uruguay. He also worked in radio broadcasting. His poems have been set to music by
Daniel Viglietti,
Alfredo Zitarrosa,
Héctor Numa Moraes, and
Eduardo Darnauchans, such as in the songs "", Bismark Vega "", "", "", "", and "". Washington died in
Montevideo, Uruguay on 24 September 2017 at the age of 87. == Works ==