The economist José Luis Rodríguez Tornaco questioned the application of the legislation with a clearly political-persecutory criterion. He warned that today it is the tobacco companies and that tomorrow it could be any company from another sector.
In contact with the Universo 970 / Nación Media radio station, the economist José Luis Rodríguez Tornaco gave a reading of the enacted law “That modifies articles 13, 25 and 28 of Law No. 1015/97 “That prevents and represses illegal acts intended to the legitimation of Money or Goods”, modified by Laws No. 3783/09 and 6797/21”.
Among its points, the regulation in question includes sports clubs and tobacco companies as obligated subjects of control by Seprelad. One of its subsections establishes that “companies dedicated to the production, distribution and marketing of tobacco, cigarettes and the like” will be controlled, and in another it adds “sports clubs, whatever their discipline.” In that sense, the interviewee argued that then it will also cover stores and kiosks, in addition to volleyball, handball and other amateur sports activities. For this reason, he described compliance as impossible.
Rodríguez Tornaco mentioned that what was approved in the Deputies has a strong political component that ends up bastardizing any technical analysis that can be done on the parliamentary initiative. “The sarcasm that underlies this really reflects what we maintain, this does not withstand any technical analysis, it is a purely political analysis, because when the head of Seprelad himself warned and the Vice Minister of Taxation mentioned that tobacco companies have a traceability system, that is why are taxed, but the drum beat was approved in the middle of the electoral calendar. The headline catastrophe was sought in the friendly media: harsh defeat of Chartism. That is what is intended, ”he lashed out.
Likewise, the expert argued that if the idea behind this proposal is to attack the business group whose head is in political contention, then all the fuel emblems should be warned that the next sector will be them. “They started with tobacco, tomorrow they will go for other activities. And they are growing quite a bit in the fuel sector. So it is logical that tomorrow a bill will come out in which some congressman proposes including service stations as an obligated subject, because this enemy group is also dedicated to selling fuel, ”he warned.
In his opinion, this maelstrom of unsustainable laws will only end up delaying the return to normality in economic activity. For this reason, he condemned politicians using money laundering control for the sole purpose of hitting their opponents on duty. And he said he was sure that President Mario Abdo Benítez will take this proposal as his flag and promulgate it without any objection. “The idea is to say: I hit so-and-so and I won this arm wrestling match, and I have the biggest stick,” he added.
At another point, he cited that there are 15 tobacco companies in the country, according to the SET, and wondered if the rod will apply to all companies or just one in particular.
