MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“A scandal over fake passports”: Financial Times warns that reputation of Uruguay is threatened

The case turned into “accusations of political espionage and corruption” and that it could “threaten the nation's reputation as a model of stability in Latin America”.

The Financial Times described the event that is currently being investigated by the Uruguayan Justice related to the former presidential custodian Alejandro Astesiano and the implications that have arisen around the entourage of President Luis Lacalle Pou.

The British newspaper assures that the case turned into “accusations of political espionage and corruption” and that it could “threaten the nation's reputation as a model of stability in Latin America”.

The Financial Times gives a chronological review of the events, which began in September, and then as time went by, the chats that the former custodian maintained with different people, obtained after the investigation began, became known.

“One set of exchanges suggested that Astesiano took advantage of his contacts in the government to sell software developed by the Interior Ministry to wealthy business executives, who then used it to track opposition senators, an accusation he has denied,” the article notes.

It goes on to report that these controversies raised questions about whether “corruption in the political system has gone unnoticed” and that attention turned to what President Luis Lacalle Pou will do to “safeguard the rule of law” and accountability for those involved.

Interviewed by the newspaper, Ricardo Gil Iribarne, former president of the Board of Transparency and Public Ethics, assured that this is a “key moment” for the country since the case is “much more than the passports”. Meanwhile, political scientist Vicky Gadea said that, in case the issue is not properly addressed, “the long-term costs could be extremely high” for the “relatively young democratic institutions of the country”.

Then the media highlights that Uruguay “continues to be the least corrupt country in Latin America”, according to the Transparency International index, but picks up the word of Gil Iribarne, who pointed out that “we are the best students of a class of poorly educated children” and that Uruguay “could fall to the levels of other countries” where distrust towards institutions is growing.

“Uruguayans want to see that actions have consequences,” Gil Iribarne finally points out, adding that the Uruguayan people “still care” about the issue and are “getting angry.”