MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's anti-graft body faces Congress as opposition alleges 'political use' in Orsi case

The controversy stems from the purchase of the vehicle, valued on the market at about 79,000 dollars, which Orsi bought for 54,000 dollars days before taking office

The directorate of Uruguay's Transparency and Public Ethics Board (Jutep) appeared on Thursday before the Chamber of Deputies' Security and Coexistence Commission, amid the controversy over President Yamandú Orsi's purchase of a Hyundai Santa Fe. National Party deputy Pablo Abdala, who requested the summons, accused the body of “political use.”

Abdala said on the social network X that Jutep “is at odds with the National Party” over the conduct of the directors appointed by the government, and argued that the body “is not credible and offers no guarantees,” so that it “serves no one, not even President Orsi.” The lawmaker said he would reiterate his party's complaints and its concern over the handling of the case.

Jutep's board is made up of its president, Ana María Ferraris, and vice president, Alfredo Asti —both from the governing Frente Amplio— along with opposition member Luis Calabria, of the National Party. Ferraris rejected the accusations of politicization: she said she does not represent any party and noted that “when someone doesn't like a Jutep resolution, they say it is politicized.”

The body has so far received six anonymous complaints related to the case, all similar in content. Ferraris said they would be handled as a priority because of the “institutional significance” of the person involved, and that a lawyer would be assigned to lead the investigation. The board session to address the complaints was set for Friday, and the president said there would be no resolution this week or next.

The controversy stems from the purchase of the vehicle, valued on the market at about 79,000 dollars, which Orsi bought for 54,000 dollars days before taking office, in February 2025. According to accounts by Uruguayan media, later confirmed by the presidency, he paid with two vehicles —a 2020 Hyundai he owned and a Renault Stepway that had been donated to the Frente Amplio campaign by the dealership CarOne— and a transfer of about 15,000 dollars. The opposition has linked the discount to the use, on inauguration day, of an electric car from the same brand.

Weeks earlier, the National Party had already alleged supposed “irregularities” in Jutep's operations. Orsi, for his part, defended the transaction as a vehicle swap “at a reasonable price” and offered to pay the difference if an oversight body deems it necessary.