Opposition claims homicide rises in Uruguay as pandemic subsides

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Contrary to the Ministry of Interior’s claim of a reduction in this type of crime, the political opposition maintained that with the increase in mobility due to the low Covid-19 figures, the most violent forms of crime have increased.

Frente Amplio senator Charles Carrera cited international studies showing a decrease in criminal activity during the pandemic months.

He criticized that the relevant authorities failed to use this time to design strategies and public policies that would ensure an effective response to what was expected once the health emergency was over.

In a public document entitled “Sad Reality,” the Ministry of the Interior’s former director criticized the erratic policy in Public Security “and those suffering the consequences are the people.”

In his opinion, professionalism and seriousness were lacking when presenting the data on homicides that occurred until the end of the month and offering figures for Montevideo as if they referred to the whole country.

“In fact, in addition to opacity and lack of transparency when disclosing statistical data, there are gross errors that ultimately undermine confidence in the official figures,” he stressed.

“Based on open sources of information, we can state that in October there were 36 homicides in the whole country, a figure much higher than the 17 homicides reported by the Minister of the Interior along with the Montevideo Chief of Police,” he added.

However, Secretary of the Presidency of Uruguay Álvado Delgado stated that “crimes continue to drop, and that is the result of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC).” There is now a campaign in Uruguay to repeal, by referendum, 135 of the LUC articles criticized by dozens of social organizations.