Uruguay
The National Party will send Gonzalo Gómez to its ethics committee and the councilman removed Lucio Leiva
The party leadership decided to refer the case to the Ethics Committee after hearing from the Montevideo councilman. It also accepted Lucio Leiva's resignation from the National Youth wing and confirmed his departure as an adviser in the Departmental Board.
The National Party councilman from Montevideo Gonzalo Gómez appeared this Sunday before the Political Affairs Committee of the National Party, which decided to refer his situation to the party’s Ethics Committee, according to la diaria based on a resolution the outlet obtained.
According to that resolution, Gómez made himself available to the Ethics Committee and also requested leave from the Honorable Board of Directors of the National Party until the responsibilities linked to these episodes are clarified. The councilman is part of that body representing the National Youth wing.
The case comes after the conviction of Pablo Leiva, who served as an adviser to Gómez in the Montevideo Departmental Board and was sentenced for money laundering in a drug trafficking case. According to la diaria, in Operation Trazador the Police seized more than 260 kilos of drugs, weapons, vehicles and cash in a house in Brazo Oriental, in Montevideo, and Leiva received a sentence of two years and six months in prison for money laundering and internal trafficking of ammunition.
The party resolution also addressed the situation of Lucio Leiva, Pablo Leiva’s son, who was Gómez’s adviser and vice president of the Departmental Youth Committee of Montevideo. The Political Affairs Committee reported that it accepted his resignation from that youth body, while Gómez decided to remove him from his position as adviser in the Departmental Board. According to the resolution cited by la diaria, that departure had been voluntarily requested by the adviser himself.
In the document, the committee stated that it is of “enormous gravity” for a person convicted of drug trafficking to have accessed a position of political trust. It also said that ignorance of the situation does not exempt one from acting diligently in public office and preserving the image of probity of the National Party.
The committee added that the political system, institutions and democracy are threatened by organized crime and drug trafficking, and expressed confidence in the actions of the Judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office, with respect for due process guarantees and the presumption of innocence.
As la diaria recalled, at the national level the Por la Patria sector is led by Jorge Gandini. The outlet noted that the National Party resolution does not mention the leader, after he denied last week having any connection with Pablo Leiva.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.
