Uruguay
The Broad Front follows the Leiva case cautiously and calls for an investigation into possible political ramifications
Fernando Pereira said the case raises “institutional concern,” but avoided extending responsibility to the National Party without evidence. In the opposition in government, they also called for advancing rules to prevent drug trafficking from entering political financing.
The Broad Front is keeping under review the political consequences of the so-called Operation Trazador, in which Pablo Leiva was convicted of money laundering and internal trafficking of ammunition. According to La Diaria, Leiva had been serving until then as an adviser to the National Party councilor for Montevideo, Gonzalo Gómez, a member of list 250 of the Por la Patria sector, led by Jorge Gandini.
According to that outlet, the investigation also reached Gandini after it became known that the police are investigating a collection office in the name of his wife, Laura Scalabrino Muga, within the laundering scheme attributed to Leiva. Gandini denied this Tuesday at a press conference any link to the convicted man.
Interior Minister Carlos Negro warned at a press conference about the impact of drug money on the country’s political and economic structures. He said that, in addition to the seizures, the investigation continues into the asset and laundering scheme, and stressed that this process takes time. On possible political responsibilities, he said that whoever corresponds will have to answer.
Still according to La Diaria, the Broad Front Executive Secretariat decided to convene a working meeting with councilors and lawmakers to prepare input that will later be evaluated by the Political Board, with a view to defining possible actions.
On TV Ciudad, Broad Front president Fernando Pereira said the episode causes “institutional concern,” although he rejected drawing hasty conclusions. He said it is a case that must be studied and stated that he would not point to a party with a 190-year history as if it were hiding a drug trafficking scheme without the investigation proving it.
Pereira added that it is appropriate to investigate how far responsibilities extend, but without prejudging. He said those inquiries should be left to the Prosecutor’s Office and not to political parties. He also said that all forces should share the goal of eradicating any link between drug trafficking and party financing.
In that context, he defended the need to agree on new rules and reiterated the Broad Front’s position in favor of exclusively public financing for parties. In his view, the problem is not solved with grandstanding statements, but with parliamentary work, in the Departmental Board and in political leadership, to shield the system from criminal organizations.
On Gandini’s explanations, Pereira said they did not generate “anything in particular” for him. Different was the reaction of Broad Front deputy Julieta Sierra, who described the situation as alarming and said on X that, although she remains cautious, she is still following the facts closely and did not rule out promoting legislative and political actions.
So far, the National Party has not issued an institutional position on the case. According to La Diaria, Gonzalo Gómez asked to be received by the party board when he returns from a trip to China.
Within the Broad Front, Senator Óscar Andrade said the first statement should come from the National Party, since the episode involves leaders linked to the case, and called for addressing the relationship between drug trafficking and politics with serenity. Sebastián Sabini, for his part, said some lawmakers should make self-criticism for previous accusations against the Broad Front on this issue. Eduardo Brenta, meanwhile, called for deeper work on the Board of Transparency and Public Ethics, the control of sworn statements and intelligence tasks.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this event.
