The director of the National Audiovisual Communication Service (SECAN), Gerardo Sotelo, generated controversy earlier this week after writing a tweet for the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over Jair Messias Bolsonaro in Brazil.
“And so, with the triumph of the thief over the facho, another election took place in this long-suffering Latin America. Mamita”, wrote the highest hierarch of the Uruguayan public media.
This generated a great deal of criticism and repudiation, and the head of the government of Luis Lacalle Pou felt forced to go out and clarify what “did you mean.
Citing the incendiary tweet itself, he commented: “Literality and bad faith destroy irony. The qualifiers are not mine. They are the ones they exchanged during the campaign!”
And he concluded: “They were not insults but criticism of a form of politics that does not represent me. If anyone did not understand this, please accept my apologies.”
He went on leave
Sotelo went on leave after the controversy, according to the newspaper The country citing sources from within the Independent Party.
The decision transcends after rumors had spread that the official had resigned from the position. The controversial tweet drew criticism even from within the government. For example, from the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieres, who stated that what he said was “an important error for the function it occupies”.
“He does not represent us, neither the party, nor the government,” he added when consulted by the aforementioned media.
