Uruguayan tourism minister resigns over corruption suspicion

The Minister of Tourism of Uruguay, German Cardoso, announced Friday his resignation from the post, after a series of complaints of improprieties for direct awarding of advertising contracts, according to sources of the center-right Colorado party.

The complaints were lodged by the dismissed tourism director, Martín Pérez Banchero, who refused to make the purchases.

The Uruguayan weekly Research published this Thursday more information on alleged contracts that the head of the ministry intended to sign through direct purchases.

Cardoso belongs to the traditional Colorado party, which is one of the coalition partners in the government of Luis Lacalle Pou of the National Party (Blanco).

The executive, which took office in March 2020, has so far seen three changes of cabinet, following the resignation of the then Chancellor Ernesto Talvi and the resignation of the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and of Fisheries, Carlos María Uriarte.

After Pérez Banchero’s first complaint, President Lacalle Pou received Cardoso in his office and was satisfied with the explanations, as initially stated.

However, the weekly’s publication made the president back down with the endorsement and announced that he would have to look into the situation again. But the president has not made any public statements about it.

After the resignation, the leaders of the Colorado Party, including the former president of Uruguay Julio María Sanguinetti (1985-1990 and 1995-2000), met this Friday to define what name they will propose to President Lacalle Pou to lead the Tourism portfolio.

In June, Cardoso had already been strongly questioned by the opposition for requests for personal favors from a police officer He was charged with imprisonment for five crimes, although Lacalle Pou, along with the government coalition, supported him.

Other disclaimers

With this departure, six of the 13 ministers who started working on March 1, 2020 in Lacalle Pou’s cabinet do not keep their posts.

The first replacement in the executive came with the resignation of Talvi on July 1 at the height of the Mercosur summit, during which Uruguay entered its semester of presidency pro tempore.

He was relieved by Francisco Bustillo, who was until then Uruguay’s ambassador to Spain.

The second took place on May 1, 2021, when the President announced the dismissal of Social Development Minister Pablo Bartol, who was replaced by Martín Lema.

Twenty-one days later, Luis Alberto Heber, who until then was head of the transport and public works portfolio, was appointed Minister of the Interior after the sudden death of Jorge Larrañaga on May 22.

José Luis Falero, who until then was Deputy Director of the Planning and Budget Office (OPP), took over in the place left vacant by Heber.

Finally, on June 27, Lacalle Pou announced that the until then president of the National Meat Institute, Fernando Mattos, would replace Carlos María Uriarte as Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Source: EFE

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