Uruguay top officials resign amid drug dealer passport scandal

Uruguay rarely makes the headlines due to political scandals, but the country had a weekend of turmoil after President Luis Lacalle Pou announced that he had accepted the resignation of three top cabinet officials, including Interior Minister Luis Alberto Heber. 

The reshuffle comes after a two-year-long case regarding the 2021 passport issuance to alleged Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, wanted on drug charges in Uruguay, Brazil, the U.S., and Paraguay. In addition to links with regional cartels, Mr. Marset was also accused of being connected to the murder of Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in 2022. 

Mr. Alberto Heber, as well as his cabinet undersecretary and a close presidential communications advisor, stepped down following last week’s resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Bustillo, one of President Lacalle Pou’s closest allies. 

The same case also led to the arrest of the head of the president’s personal security detail last year, as The Brazilian Report explained.

Mr. Bustillo’s case was a scandal in itself, as he stepped down from the job after audios were released in which he is apparently heard asking a subordinate to withhold information on Mr. Marset’s case. The former official denied any misconduct, saying he had no role in the issuance of the passport. 

The minister explained his resignation by saying in a statement that the whole situation is “sufficiently sensitive” even though “things are not as they were presented.” He informed the president by telephone, as Mr. Lacalle Pou traveled last week to Washington, where he met President Joe Biden and other leaders for a regional economic summit. 

Back in Montevideo during the weekend, the Uruguayan head of state announced the names of his new ministers but avoided getting into details about the case. The president said he had “the conviction and serenity” that all of his former officials “will know how to defend their honor” before Uruguayan courts.

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