Uruguay’s Tourism Minister resigns after allegations of irregularities

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Minister of Tourism of Uruguay, Germán Cardoso, announced Friday (20) his resignation after a series of allegations of irregularities for directly assigning advertising contracts, confirmed sources of the Colorado Party (PC).

The allegations were made by the dismissed director of Tourism, Martin Perez Banchero, who refused to carry out these purchases, as well as by the local weekly Búsqueda, which published Thursday more information about contracts that the minister intended to sign through direct purchases without bids.

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Cardoso belongs to PC, which is one of the partners of the government coalition and which, so far in the government period -March 2020 until now- has already had three changes in the cabinet after the resignation of the then Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi and the dismissal of the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries, Carlos María Uriarte.

After the first denunciation of Pérez Banchero, the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, received Cardoso in his office and was satisfied with the explanations. However, the weekly publication caused Lacalle Pou to back down from the endorsement and announced that he had to study the situation again.

After the resignation, the PC leaders, including ex-president Julio María Sanguinetti (1985-1990 and 1995-2000), are meeting to define which name they will propose to head the Tourism portfolio.

In June, Cardoso had already been strongly questioned by the opposition for personal favors to a policeman charged with five crimes. However, Lacalle Pou, together with the government coalition, supported him. With this departure, six of the 13 ministers who started working on March 1, 2020 in Lacalle Pou’s cabinet will not continue in their posts.

The first change in the government took place with the resignation of Talvi on July 1 in the middle of the Mercosur summit, in which Uruguay began its semester of pro tempore presidency. He was relieved by Francisco Bustillo, who until then was Uruguay’s Ambassador to Spain.

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

Twenty-one days later, Luis Alberto Heber, who held the Transport and Public Works portfolio until then, was appointed Minister of the Interior following the sudden death of Jorge Larrañaga on May 22. José Luis Falero, who was the deputy director of the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP), assumed the place left vacant by Heber.

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