The representative of the Colorado party, Gabriel Gurmendezsubmitted a letter to the Special Commission for Control and Supervision of the National State Intelligence System before the next appearance of the Secretary of Strategic Intelligence, Mario Layerarequesting that information be collected regarding the possibility of the country being used as a “logistics support platform” by “Iran and/or Hezbollah” after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro.
The Colorado leader also requested that Layera be consulted about his Secretariat’s evaluation of the existence or not of “concrete threats” for Uruguay regarding this issue and whether or not to take “specific measures for prevention, monitoring and exchange of international information” to “mitigate possible risks, especially in relation to critical infrastructures, diplomatic representations and possible financing or logistical support circuits within the national territory”.
In the writing, to which he had access The Observerthe legislator – beyond taking the crisis in Venezuela as the center of his warnings – also placed as relevant the “escalation” of the conflict in the Middle East and the “greater alignment of some Latin American countries—particularly Argentina—with critical positions towards Iran, which could increase risks of retaliation or indirect actions in the region”.
Regarding this point of the document, which also includes other problems, Gurméndez spoke with The Observer and pointed out with concern the “new alert and risk levels” internationally and how they can affect the country.
“As a completely preventive measure, we have to ensure that Uruguay is evaluating these risks, taking measures and coordinating information to prevent us from becoming a territory that, due to having less operational pressure, will eventually may provide protection for activities that may provide logistical, financial or intelligence support“he explained.
In this sense, he mentioned that the “motivation” with the consultations on this issue is to “make sure” that the country“which has vulnerabilities in terms of its border and in terms of its capabilities”stay “attentive” to these issues and “have them on the radar“.
Previously, in dialogue with Infobae, the deputy stated that his “main concern” is that Uruguay is not “taking preventive measures and being ignored in the face of these events of the new geopolitical scenario”.
Outside of this issue, Gurméndez asked the commission to consult Layera about the recent complaints in Argentina about the development of a “alleged organized campaign of disinformation and political influence attributed to agents of Russia” and about a possible “displacement effect” of criminal organizations towards Uruguay given the recent “strengthening” in several countries of “regional mechanisms to combat drug trafficking”.
Regarding this last point, Gurméndez explained to the media outlet that the concern lies in the fact that Uruguay “was left out” of the Shield of the Americas and that other countries that were also excluded, such as Brazil, made “own agreements with the United States” for the topic.
“The idea is to ensure that these new risk scenarios are being evaluated, that we are not ignoring them and in this way strengthen our responsibility as a member of the Intelligence Commission of Parliament, who has the obligation to supervise this system“, hill.
