His client had just come out of declaring before the prosecutor Gabriela Fossati as investigated, for his contacts with the former head of presidential custody. Hours before, MVD Noticias had released the chats in which Astesiano asked him in a “reserved” way to find out information about the flight of the leader of the Sembrando program, Lorena Ponce de León, a few months after separating from President Luis Lacalle Pou. Berriel agreed to the request and entrusted her loyalty to the custodian. Ojeda said this Wednesday that Larrañaga was the one who introduced Astesiano to Berriel.
His mention of the deceased Minister of the Interior caused discomfort in the ranks of the National Party and its leaders did not hide their discomfort. “Use the private life of people for political purposes, use a deceased person, like Jorge Larrañaga, to entangle himto put it on the table with the sole objective of harming the President of the Republic, of having an electoral political purpose, it seems filthy to me“, declared in Informal Breakfasts the Minister of Defense and reference of Space 40, Javier García.
From the National Alliance that Jorge Larrañaga knew how to lead in life, they did not remain silent either: “It is nonsense, it is very easy to take charge of something to someone who is deceased,” said the mayor of Soriano, Guillermo Besozzia The Observer. “You can see that this man came to his head and it’s nonsense, he falls under his own weight. Jorge knew who Astesiano was and at one point he had said that he had a criminal record,” he said, adding that he had ” Argentinized politics” by messing “with the private life of the president and the lady.
Despite the mayor’s statement, the president had stated that he did not remember if Larrañaga had warned him about the head of presidential security, although he did admit that “There were people interested in making some things known” regarding the fact that Astesiano had notes, but “there was no criminal record”.
When Ojeda spoke of the conversation between the deceased minister, the former custodian and the police chief, he recalled that the then director of the Ministry of the Ministry, Luis Calabria, “was present” and claimed that he could confirm what was said. The ex-hierarch recognized The Observer that “at the end of March or April (2020) the person who was going to be in that role of presidential security was presented and that it was indicated that he should be given the due collaboration to fulfill that role,” although he later told El País that “lucubrations with Monday’s newspaper” had to be avoided.
Herrerismo did not like the fact that the deceased Larrañaga was brought up either, although they defended the logic of that order. “Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to mention itbecause unfortunately he passed away. Now, The order he issued is not at all strange, which is for the essential coordination that presidential custody must have with the police.”stated to The Observer the herrerista senator Gustavo Penadés.
In this sense, the legislator defended that the order continue in force after Luis Alberto Heber took office, as it is “essential” for the “natural functioning” between the two departments.
consulted by The Observer For this note, Ojeda preferred not to make statements and refer to what has already been publicly handled. From his environment they indicated that his participation in the Astesiano case has not earned them reproaches at the party level, while Berriel’s statement in the Prosecutor’s Office is far from transferring responsibility to Larrañaga, while his order went to President’s request.
The double condition of Ojeda
The police union (Sifpom), which Ojeda also represents, asked the lawyer to stop being the visible face in the defense of Berriel – number three of the National Police – and for another colleague from his legal study to assume the role. The leader of the Colorado Party did not confirm to the union that he will renounce visibility in that case.
Ojeda’s role in the Astesiano case not only made police workers uncomfortable, but also made noise in the red inmate, according to what he told The Observer a source from that community. The concern centers on the “particularity” of the lawyer of having to attend, on the one hand, his professional activity, but at the same time watch over the ruling coalition that he integrates, as a member of the Partico Colorado with aspirations of political growth.
In the defense strategy for Berriel, at the hearing Ojeda insisted that, in any case, the prosecutor should consult the Presidency on the matter.
In this regard, former president Julio María Sanguinetti, current general secretary of the Colorado Party, told The Observer that “professional activity is professional activity”.
However, the double condition of the lawyer who has confessed – as a Colorado leader – his vocation to “be the protagonist of what is to come” did not go unnoticed in his ranks.
