(BSS/AFP) - A cancer patient in Uruguay became the first person to die by euthanasia in the small South American country on Friday, a medical source confirmed to AFP.

Uruguay in October passed the so-called "Dignified Death" bill, making it the first country in Latin America to legalize assisted dying.

The law allows assisted suicide for adult Uruguayan citizens or residents who are mentally competent and in the terminal stage of an incurable disease that causes them suffering.

The first recorded death of this type "took place today," a source from Uruguay`s Medical Association told AFP Friday, one month after the legislation came into effect.

Media outlet Telenoche 4 had reported that the first euthanasia procedure in the country had been carried out in Montevideo on a 69-year-old woman with terminal cancer.

Leftist lawmaker from the ruling party, Federico Preve, said it was "a very important, symbolic day for the country."

"This person was able to choose to die in peace. They were able to choose to pass away in accordance with their own convictions," he told reporters.

Uruguay has a long history of passing socially liberal laws, legalizing marijuana, same-sex marriage and abortion long before most others.

Its Medical Association has not taken a stance on euthanasia and allows its doctor members to follow their own conscience.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Colombia and Ecuador have decriminalized assisted dying through court rulings.

Cuba meanwhile allows for terminal patients to refuse being kept alive artificially.