Political scandal erupts in Uruguay after The Daily spread chats implicating senior government officials and police in illegal tracking activities. Prosecutor Gabriela Fossati has summoned to testify Marcelo Abdalapresident of the PIT-CNT, and the president’s secretary Luis Lacalle Pou, Nicholas Martinezin addition to the former court prosecutor and former judge, Jorge Díaz, who are mentioned in the conversations.
In the last revealed conversations, it appears that the former presidential custodian, Alexander Astesiano, would have used the video surveillance system of the Ministry of the Interior to track Abdala’s movements on a day when he had an accident in Punta Carretas. In addition, it appears that Astesiano sent images of the accident and its consequences to Martínez and the deputy executive director of the National Police, Jorge Berriel.
The political implications of Astesiano’s misdeeds
The blow of this case has inevitably overshadowed the government of Luis Lacalle Pou. While the entire political right, grouped in the multicolored coalition, agrees with the president and ousts Astesiano, the Broad Front has demanded responsibilities from the Executive Branch that have not arrived. The scope of this scandal is serious, since it implicates high-ranking government officials and the police in illegal tracking activities.
Abdala’s legal team will present a request for access to the evidence on the fact in the prosecutor’s office and the Executive Secretariat of the union central will define the legal steps to follow this week.
For their part, Martínez and Berriel have denied any involvement in the illegal tracking, while President Lacalle Pou has stated that a thorough investigation will be carried out into the matter. Díaz, for his part, has not issued any comment on the matter.
This scandal has generated great controversy in Uruguayan society, since it questions the integrity of high government officials and the police. Furthermore, it raises concerns about the privacy and security of citizens in a democracy that is supposed to respect individual liberties.
Regarding Abdala, Astesiano allegedly said that “this son of a bitch must be killed”, for which he has taken legal action.
Read all the notes about Alejandro Astesiano clicking here.
