Family members and politicians say goodbye to Jorge Larrañaga at the Legislative Palace of Uruguay

The mortal remains of Uruguayan Minister of the Interior, Jorge Larrañaga, who died this Saturday in Montevideo, is veiled from 9 a.m. (12 p.m. GMT) this Sunday at the Legislative Palace..

On a rainy fall Sunday morning, the coffin was brought half an hour earlier into the parliamentary seat’s Hall of Lost Footsteps, where it will remain until 12:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT).

At this hour The funeral procession will leave for Paysandú (west), where Larrañaga was born on August 8, 1956 and where he will be buried on Monday. However, before leaving Montevideo, the entourage will pass through the historic headquarters of the National Party (center-right), one of the five that make up the government coalition and in which the Minister of the Interior has been active since his youth.

The 64-year-old minister died on Saturday after suffering a cardiopulmonary arrest from where, as reported by the local newspaper “El País”, he could not get out despite attempts to resuscitate the health services who treated him in a private house.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou announced the news around 6.30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. GMT) Saturday on his Twitter account. “Jorge Larrañaga has passed away. Very difficult! I learned to love and respect him. He loved even in the harshness of the battle. We compete, we cooperate, we respect each other. He was at his peak. RIP, ”the president wrote.

Shortly after, the executive issued a statement decreeing funeral honors.

In addition, The president suspended the trip to Ecuador he had planned this Sunday for the inauguration of Guillermo Lasso as president of this country.

Lacalle Pou was to travel this evening with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the center-right politician, the Minister of Foreign Relations will therefore be the only representative of Uruguay at the ceremony.

Larrañaga was mayor (regional governor) of Paysandú and senator, as well as presidential candidate of Uruguay in 2004 and vice-president in 2009 – with the father of the current president, former president Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera (1990 -1995) -.

In the 2019 elections, he was a pre-candidate for the internal elections of the National Party, from which the current head of state came out as a presidential candidate.

For his cabinet, Lacalle Pou chose Larrañaga for his interior portfolio, considering the importance that the nationalist politician attached to public security to the point of drafting a proposal entitled “Live without fear”.

This project, which aimed to reform the Constitution to include, among other aspects, the creation of a national guard to collaborate with the police in the field of citizen security, the sentence of permanent imprisonment is revised.

Public Health Minister Daniel Salinas defined Larrañaga as “a great human being and friend” and added in his Twitter post: “He gave everything for our country. He goes through the front door ”.

Also in this social network, the head of housing and land management, Irene Moreira, declared that the late minister was “a great fighter engaged in the difficult task he had to accomplish”. “All Uruguayans have witnessed the warmth he put in his administration,” he added.

Former President of Uruguay (1985-1990 and 1995-2000) Julio María Sanguinetti, historic leader of the Colorado Party (PC, center-right), another of the parties that make up the government coalition, wrote: “More ‘handsome’ than ever, a gladiator of the Republic has fallen. Example of commitment, honesty and courage. Our emotion towards him and his family ”, referring to the nickname by which Larrañaga was known.

The official account of Frente Amplio (FA), a left-wing coalition that ruled Uruguay between 2005 and 2020 and now in opposition, described Larrañaga in his post as an “outstanding political leader” of the country, and sent its “condolences and solidarity” to your loved ones.

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