The president of Uruguay, Louis Lacalle PouYou demanded the resignation of the Minister of Construction, Irene Moreirafor directly assigning an apartment in Montevideo to a militant of Cabildo Abierto, far-right party that is part of the governing coalition and who came out to defend the official.
Moreira, which is also wife of Cabildo Abierto leader, retired soldier Guido Manini Ríoshe met with the president on Thursday evening to give his explanations on the case and after that meeting he defended his actions to the press.
«Here the important thing is that there is a study and an evaluation of whether or not the granting (of housing) complies with the ministry’s prescriptions. In this case it is a single parent family, with a female head of the family and a responsible minor,” Moreira said.
The minister added that both Lacalle Pou and the secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado, understood the situation “perfectly”, and said they had shown them the file of the militant who received the benefit in a direct award, despite the fact that the woman did not appear in the lotteries foreseen by the portfolio itself.
“What we wanted was to speak personally, I have nothing to hide,” stressed the minister.
However, Local media reported on Friday that Lacalle Pou had asked the official to resigninformation later confirmed by the deputy of Cabildo Abierto Álvaro Perrone.
“That’s right. The first thing we have to say is that we don’t agree with the request for resignation”, said the legislator in statements on Canale 12 and defended that the minister “acted within the guidelines”.
“We fully support the actions of both the minister and the team”said the legislator.
In this context, Cabildo Abierto has announced that he will hold a press conference this afternoon in Parliament and the Uruguayan media indicate that the group does not rule out abandoning the government alliance led by the National Party.
A department, at the origin of the request for resignation
The case in which Moreira is accused began in late 2021, when the portfolio she manages opened the tender to build a lottery for homes located near downtown Montevideo.
Out of the tender, a Cabildo Abierto militant received a two-room apartment by direct award.
“It is in the interests of the Minister Dr. Irene Moreira that the reserved space in the complex is assigned to the family made up of MM and her daughter,” the official’s secretary wrote in an email sent to the National Director of Housing, Jorge Ceretta Gomez, according to a Universal radio inquiry.
This was indicated by sources in the Ministry of Housing the procedure performed is not illegal or violates any rulesince there is a reserve of wards to be granted to people in cases of vulnerability e showed that this case met all the requirements.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.