MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Presence of US Marines in Uruguay sparks controversy

Lazo referred to the issue as “misleading news”

Uruguay's Defense Minister Sandra Lazo engaged in a controversy with opposition Senator Javier García over the entry into the South American country of a group of six US Marines.

While Lazo claimed that no Congressional approval was needed because it was an unarmed “academic exchange,” García - a former Defense Minister himself under President Luis Lacalle Pou - insisted they were nonetheless foreign troops to whom the measure applied.

Lazo referred to the issue as “misleading news” and a “political operation” from the opposition.

“The Marines who entered without permission are the same ones who are in the Caribbean, who have made statements against the entire [ruling] Broad Front [of President Yamandú Orsi],” García insisted, citing Article 85, paragraph 11, of the Constitution. He also recalled that the Broad Front had opposed similar maneuvers in the past, with Lazo - then a Senator - among those voting against. “We found out about them through the US Embassy's website,” García also pointed out.

Lazo added that the rumors about the presence of the Marines constitute “misleading news, because there was no joint exercise, as on other occasions, which would require parliamentary approval. It seems to us to be very similar to a type of political operation that we cannot understand.”

Undersecretary of Defense Joel Rodríguez is due before the Senate on Monday to clarify any questions the Upper House might have on the matter.

At the same time, the Defense Ministry is conducting an investigation into García's behavior during his tenure as minister after a formal complaint of workplace harassment was filed against him by Captain Nelson Duarte, who also included Garcías successor, Armando Castaingdebat, in his submission, as well as Army Chief of Staff General Mario Stevenazzi, among other senior officers.

Captain Duarte, publicly known as Lieutenant Duarte, formally filed his case late in 2023, prompting an internal inquiry that was not launched until January of this year.