This Thursday the British media The Economist published an article which ensures that Uruguay is losing its reputation as a success story in the region.
At the beginning of the note, the editor refers to Uruguay as “a model country” and argues: “More than 95% of its electricity comes from the sun, wind, water and biofuels. Same-sex couples can marry. Residents can buy cannabis at pharmacies. In international comparisons, Uruguay ranks as the most peaceful and least corrupt country in South America. Other leaders hide in the palaces; The president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, works from a glass office, in front of an apartment block.
However, according to the publication, the brightness of this reputation was dimmed due, in principle, to the Astesian case which he briefly describes referring to the sentence of four and a half years received by the security chief of Lacalle Pou and the reasons that caused it. “Prosecutors said that Astesiano had sold fake birth certificates to Russians so they could get Uruguayan passports,” she explains.
Regarding Astesiano, the article questions Lacalle Pou’s attitude of ignoring that the former custodian could be involved in matters outside the law when he knew him 20 years ago and during that period Astesiano had “several entanglements with the law, including investigations police on allegations of fraud and theft.
It also refers to a increase in crime that makes the country tremble in its position as a “law-abiding exception in a violent region.”
Other reviews
In addition to alluding to the Astesiano case and insecurity, the article in The Economist refers to the resignation in 2021 of the then Minister of Tourism, German Cardoso “after accusations of corruption, which he denies.”
The publication also gives an account of the resignation of the former Minister of the Environment, Adrián Peña, after having assumed a title that he did not have. (It should be noted that, after the controversy, it was concluded that Peña did have the title pending and even the president offered him his position again, but he preferred to continue from the Senate).
Also remember that the drug trafficker Sebastián Marset was able to escape from Dubai thanks to the Uruguayan authorities granting him a new passport. By the way, he mentions the resignation of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, Carolina Ache because of this case.
The Economist assures that Marset played an important role in positioning Uruguay as “a center of international crime.” “Gangs send assault weapons and ammunition between Argentina and Brazil via Uruguay, according to InSight Crime, an investigative team,” it says, adding: “Illegal fishing fleets are taking advantage of lax controls in the free port of Montevideo , the capital”.
Regarding insecurity, the publication points out that the problem worsens over the years and that covid-19 was a turning point to worsen it, says the article based on the words of organized crime investigator Nicolás Centurión. “With the ground flights, the gangs piled Andean cocaine into containers shipped via Montevideo to Europe. In the last decade, Uruguay’s homicide rate has almost doubled, to 11.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022, ”he points out.
At the end of the publication, The Economist states that Lacalle Pou “can probably recover from these recent scandals.” And he affirms, following statements by the director of Opción Consultores, Rafael Porzecanski that “corruption in Uruguay is not endemic.”
“Lacalle Pou cannot run again, but the scandal could jeopardize the conservatives’ chances in next year’s elections,” the article concludes.
