The Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber, breathed a sigh of relief this Sunday when he learned of the results of the referendum that ratified the full validity of the Urgent Consideration Law (LUC). “I breathed” he confessed this Monday, when closing an act of his sector, the List 71 of the National Party. The reason, as he explained, was that he felt that without the LUC the Police would be left without support and the portfolio that he leads would be left without sufficient tools to “give battle” to the criminal organizations.
Heber welcomed the victory of the No on the last election day, although he called on the militancy to avoid talking about victory. What there was, he pointed out, was citizen support for the government so that it can continue on its course, allowing it to preserve precisely the fundamental tools to “keep the ship on its way.”
For the minister, the result of this Sunday translated into a clear support for the actions of the portfolio. In particular of the president Luis Lacalle Pou, who as soon as he began his speech this Sunday had a gesture of recognition to the Police. According to Heber, the institution throughout this campaign was used and attacked until the last day by the supporters who promoted the repeal. “There was an attack on the police institution,” he claimed.
In particular for the 50 complaints about alleged police abuse that the Broad Front presented the last week of the campaign and that the Ministry of the Interior refuted shortly after through a report. In this regard, Heber said that on Monday he had in his possession an analysis by the Attorney General’s Office that confirms the official position: most of the reported cases, he said, do not constitute police abuse.
“We wanted to build a story that is not tied to reality,” said the minister in his speech. “It was said that they want to establish a police state and that they want to repress the population, generating something similar to a dictatorship,” he added.
But, in his opinion, the numbers and data “kill that story.” There are, he guaranteed, fewer cases of police abuse. “There is no fear of the Police, there is gratitude to the Police, which is the one that is not taking care,” said. “There is a democratic police here, which defends law and order,” he said.
In his message, the Minister of the Interior ridiculed the claims that from the broad front They come to the government to “listen” to the pronouncement of almost half of the electorate that voted to partially repeal the LUC. There, he wondered “with what authority” that claim is made, when what the Executive Branch has to do is listen to the majority “who told us that we had to continue with the current law.”
“Vox pópuli, vox dei. The 135 articles are still valid” Heber warned, with a direct warning to the justice system. “No one in the Prosecutor’s Office and not even the Judiciary can act distracted with what the law establishes,” he said.
The minister avoided delving into details in his speech but, shortly after and consulted by Telemundo, he assured that even before the referendum many operators failed to comply in various parts of the country with certain provisions included in the law. In particular, the article that extended from two to four hours the maximum legal period in which the Police can interrogate a suspect before informing the Prosecutor’s Office or the judge.
According to Heber, there were prosecutors who prevented it, which according to the minister prevented in certain cases from preserving evidence of the guilt of a detainee.
At the end of his speech, he returned to assess the result of this Sunday but maintained that the real victory will be in 2024. “It will be when the people ratify this party, this coalition, with a new government period. There is an order not to loosen Up the hearts, “he said.
