The senator of the Cabildo Abierto party, Guido Manini Ríos, issued a statement this Sunday afternoon to insist that he is not a settler who owns a field belonging to the Colonization Institute, according to a complaint published by the weekly newspaper Busca. this Thursday.
According to the newspaper, the General Inspection Division of the National Colonization Institute (INC) determined that retired Colonel Roque Moreira, his daughter Irene Moreira (Minister of Housing) and his son-in-law, senator from Cabildo Abierto and retired general Guido Manini Ríos “manage and they exploit” 4,350 hectares in Artigas, of which 2,856 hectares are affected by the INC.
“In the last few hours, a report commissioned by the director of the INC, not yet considered by the Board of Directors of the INC, became public, in which my wife, Irene Moreira, my father-in-law, Roque Moreira, and I quality of owner settlers. As it is erroneous information, I understand it is necessary to make the following clarifications ”, he begins by saying the letter.
And list the following:
“1- The field to which the report refers, register 511 of the department of Artigas, was acquired by the INC in 1970.
2- A few months after acquisition, according to technical reports from the Institution, it was established that the reference field did not meet the necessary conditions to be colonized, and was expressed in Resolution No. 41 of Act No. 2815, of March 2 of 1971, that “the floodable area, the area occupied by the mountains, the drainage difficulties” made its use by the Institute impossible, as its exploitation was uneconomical.
3- Due to what was stated in the previous point, the INC decided to dispose of the field, calling a tender for these purposes.
4- Mr. Roque Moreira Salgado, who was awarded part of the padrón with an extension of 1300 hectares, was presented to this tender, among several bidders, celebrating the purchase-sale commitment on July 5, 1971.
5- On December 29, 1975, in compliance with what was resolved by the Board of Directors of the INC, a new purchase agreement is signed, which leaves no doubt about the inexistence of any link between the buyer and the INC.
6- On December 2, 1981, after the price had been settled, the INC and Mr. Roque Moreira executed the purchase agreement relating to the promised property for sale and the seller transferred the property to the buyer, stating in the THIRD article: « … the transferor transfers to the buyer the full domain over the property described, confirming it in the possession that it has already taken and is obliged to clean it up according to law.”
7- From the purchase of the field to date, that is to say for more than half a century, in which even the current director who orders the report held the Presidency for several years, the National Colonization Institute did not make any claim against Mr. Roque Moreira, neither for the occupation, nor for the residence, nor for the exploitation, nor for the disposition of the existing property on the property.
From the aforementioned information it is clear that Mr. Roque Moreira was never a settler, nor were Irene Moreira and the undersigned”.
What the report says
According to information disclosed by Searchduring an inspection carried out in October 2021 by INC officials, it was found that there were “a foreman and a cook who reside in the staff house, and in another very modest building, consisting of a bedroom and a dining room. , five other rural wage earners live”.
It is also indicated that during the inspection, Colonel Moreira “instructed not to provide any information about the establishment.”
