The Minister of Foreign Relations, Francisco Bustillo, is giving something to talk about in the last hours after the newspaper The Observer revealed that he used the ministry car on more than 20 occasions for trips for personal reasons and in which he would not have performed any task related to his position.
The 22 trips were made to Punta del Este in the summer, according to the newspaper, according to public access documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: in addition to the use of the vehicle, which represents fuel consumption for almost 260 round trip kilometers each time, They would have paid travel expenses to the driver that would be around $6,000 per trip.
According to sources quoted by the media outlet from within the Executive Power, Bustillo lived “circumstantially” in the popular Esteño resort along with his family and that would be the reason why he traveled so much in a state vehicle that must be destined for work related to the investiture of the minister in power.
The only three instances in which the foreign minister had reasons of state to go to Punta del Este were: February 17 to the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez; and December 28 and 31 for the inauguration of real estate projects together with Luis Lacalle Pou.
Relevant legislation
In accordance with Law 19,823 (Declaration of general interest of the code of ethics in the public function) “The use of locomotion, fuel, spare parts and repair services at the expense of any source of public funds, by any public official, outside of what is strictly necessary for the performance of their tasks is prohibited..
Additionally, the regulations establish that “in no case may the exercise of a public function imply the free availability of a vehicle belonging to any body or affected by its use, outside the requirements of the service in the strict sense, except for legal and regulatory exceptions. ”.
