MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Balcedo now suing Uruguay for damages

The lawsuit was filed against the Uruguayan prosecutor's office and that includes all the prosecutors who acted in the case

Former Argentine labor unionist leader Marcelo Balcedo has decided to sue Uruguay for damages allegedly worth US$ 22 million after two private airplanes were impounded in 2018 when he was arrested in his ranch near Punta del Este pending extradition to Argentina.

Balcedo claims the Uruguayan State unjustifiably seized a Learjet 60 and a Gulfstream IV aircraft with long-range capabilities.

A member of Argentina's elite of powerful union sharks, Balcedo used to be the boss of the union representing some 35,000 workers of the Buenos Aires Province administration childhood and education departments (SOEME).

The now-plaintiff insists the airplanes had been purchased through leasing contracts worth US$ 6 million. Both aircraft had US registration while on lease, with Balcedo holding an option to buy them. At the time of his arrest, about US$ 3 million had already been paid for the Gulfstream IV. The aircraft was used for services offered in the United States and -so Balcedo argues- had nothing to do with the charges against him.

But since both lease agreements were rendered void as a result of his incarceration, Balcedo now feels entitled to compensation. “This lawsuit is now against the Uruguayan State, governed by current President Luis Lacalle Pou, who did not have any kind of responsibility in this matter, but the previous government and this one are the continuity of the State, unfortunately, and someone has to answer” for what was done.

The lawsuit was filed against the Uruguayan prosecutor's office and that includes all the prosecutors who acted in the Balcedo case, in addition to Jorge Diaz, the former attorney general, who apparently has a grudge against the Argentine businessman.

“Unfortunately, this trial is the result of the imperfection and manifest malice of all the prosecutors acting in the case and, I reiterate, due to the iniquity of the chief prosecutor Jorge Díaz, all of whom belong to the Uruguayan Frente Amplio,” Balcedo underlined.

Balcedo was among those who disclosed the fact that Jorge Díaz is the current lawyer representing Macrist fugitive Fabián “Pepín” Rodríguez Simón in Uruguay. He also said the Uruguayan trial for damages will be part of a series of lawsuits against both the Uruguayan State, as well as private individuals on both sides of the River Plate.

The unionist questioned Argentina's Judiciary for his arrest and insisted “he never” took “a peso” from the union. ”The case in Argentina is still the same, (La Plata Judge Ernesto) Kreplak sent me to detention for a charge that said tax evasion, but I was not even prosecuted. It is a disgrace.“

”In Argentina, we businessmen have to bite and spit to get where we are, but never in my life have I touched a peso from my partners, never accepted a bribe, and never made agreements with anyone linked to the State,” Balcedo insisted.

Read also: Argentina dismantling the extortive power of the corrupt unions