Uruguay
Pereira called for advancing a political financing law after the Leiva case
The president of the Broad Front linked the debate to the need to prevent money laundering and the entry of drug trafficking into politics. He also backed Yamandú Orsi's speech at the UN.
The president of the Broad Front, Fernando Pereira, said that the case of Pablo Leiva, convicted in the Operation Trazador case, should open a political debate on controls over party and campaign financing. According to La Diaria, Pereira said the goal should be to create mechanisms to prevent drug trafficking or organized crime from getting close to political parties.
In that context, he called for reviving a law on party financing and said cases of this kind should reinforce the need for such an instrument. He also said the National Party should discuss with the other parties a rule that ends private campaign financing or, at least, reduces it to a very narrow margin.
According to La Diaria, Pereira said that, in the Leiva case, “someone called them” to advise National Party councilman Gonzalo Gómez, and he considered that the seriousness of the episode warrants parliamentary decisions. At the same time, he avoided framing the issue as an attack on the National Party and said the underlying question is what tools the political system should give itself to prevent money laundering.
About Lucio Leiva, Pablo Leiva’s son, who was judicially cleared in the case, Pereira said it cannot be claimed that he was involved simply because he lived with his father, although he also said it cannot be said that he did not see what was happening. He also stressed that part of the seized drugs was pasta base and warned about the impact of that substance in neighborhoods.
Asked about the political responses known so far, including Leiva’s removal as an adviser, Pereira said they go in the right direction, although he avoided saying whether they are sufficient and said that requires a deeper analysis.
He also referred to the situation of Jorge Gandini, mentioned because of his link to a collection office that Pablo Leiva used to visit and because of Gómez’s belonging to his political sector. According to La Diaria, Pereira said it is first necessary to determine whether there was any legal irregularity and then assess whether Gandini retains legitimacy to remain in the National Ports Administration. Even so, he called for restraint and recalled that, since it is an oversight position, any removal depends on Parliament finding grounds to dismiss him.
In another part of the interview, Pereira backed President Yamandú Orsi‘s speech at the United Nations General Assembly. He said he felt fully identified with his positions on peace, regional integration, rejection of terrorism, military actions and the economic blockade of Cuba.
In response to opposition criticism of that speech, Pereira said, according to La Diaria, that those who criticized Orsi should clarify whether they still condemn the blockade of Cuba, as historically leaders of the National Party and the Colorado Party did. On the absence of any mention of Gaza, he said Uruguay seeks to play a role in building peace, although he noted that no one can ignore the situation in that territory.
Sources
Sobre esta nota. 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 event.
