This Monday, Senator Mario Bergara appeared before the Huella de Seregni to inform the Political Table of the Broad Front about the questioning that the opposition bench made to the ministers Luis Heber (Interior) and Francisco Bustillo (Foreign Ministry) for the delivery of the passport Uruguayan drug trafficker fugitive from justice, Sebastian Marset.
At the end of the meeting, the legislator spoke about what was discussed during the meeting and the actions to be taken by the Broad Front regarding the issue.
“This topic did not end, because the explanations of ministers Heber and Bustillo on why they issued a passport to a drug trafficker with a profuse criminal history who was being investigated internationally and was imprisoned abroad for having a false passport were absolutely inadmissible explanations ” Bergara stated.
The senator, who led the interpellation, questioned the explanations given by the government. “The famous decree of 2014 did not bind the government. They sent an express delivery sent unusually quickly to Dubai because Marset needed it so as not to be deported, ”he assured.
“They did not give good explanations for the doubts and suspicions that citizens have. There are many doubts that persist due to poor explanations, these have to do with the meetings between the Undersecretaries of the Interior and the Foreign Ministry in September and November; that it has to do with the unusual meeting of the deputy chancellor with Marset’s lawyer in November; with the error that they say there was in the computer system, where the passport supposedly traveled in the diplomatic bag, when in reality it did not; and that it has to do with the passport application, where it is said that Marset was in a luxury hotel, when he was in prison”, he added.
Report request and extension of the complaint
Bergara announced that the Broad Front signed a resolution on Monday where it agrees to present the information collected so far to the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as to present a request for reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both actions will take place this Tuesday, according to the legislator
“The bench decided to send all this information to the Prosecutor’s Office in the framework of the investigation that it initiated ex officio. It was also resolved to send a request for a report to Chancellery so that they give us the answers that we did not obtain during the questioning,” he explained.
“We want to contribute to the investigation and that the irregularities are clear and that the Prosecutor’s Office understands that there are things that must go to Justice,” he assured.
“In the case of the request for information, we want to be informed precisely because it seems to us that there are more political responsibilities that should have more consequences,” he added.
“The ministers took cover in an inadmissible explanation that the decree required the delivery of the passport and that everything was done well. However, in the interpellation we found out that the civil identification number two of the Ministry of the Interior was dismissed for rushing Marset’s passport, ”he reflected.
the image of the country
Bergara expressed “concern” about the government’s position on the issue, especially Uruguay’s position on the international stage.
“We are very concerned because both ministers emphasized that they did everything right. Likewise, they indicated that even with the newspaper of the day, where it was learned that all this served Marset, they would do it in the same way. Furthermore, they deny that this affected the country’s image in the international community. That is indubitable; it is enough to see the embarrassing international notes, the tweet of the president of Colombia, among others. But also the very erosion of citizen trust: seven out of 10 Uruguayans think that this was done poorly, according to a survey,” he said.
Likewise, he made reference to the statements of Senator Graciela Bianchi, who referred “to countries like Colombia, Chile, Bolivia as ‘narco-states,’ she said while standing next to the foreign minister. This is something that can have very negative repercussions on international ties with those states, it is inadmissible and risky, ”she valued.
