A senator of the party of Uruguay’s Lacalle Pou is accused of pedophilia by trans activist

A trans activist of the Uruguayan National Party (PN), led by the current President, Luis Lacalle Pou, accused a legislator of the same party, Senator Gustavo Penadés, of child sexual abuse in 2007.

In a press conference, the senator said he was “shocked” by the accusation and denied all the facts.

He also said he would denounce the biologically male militant for defamation, who now has the name Romina Celeste Papasso.

Romina declared to have been “lifted” by Penades when she was 13 years old and “had not yet modified her gender”, so the senator would have had sexual relations knowing she was a man.

“Penades picked me up in Batlle Park at 8 pm; I didn’t know who he was or that he was a Senator; that was my start in child prostitution”, she declared last Wednesday in a famous Uruguayan radio program.

“I have never deceived nor have I denied my sexual orientation, but what I do not admit is someone can accuse me of being a pedophile”, answered Penadés, who admitted being homosexual, something that was rumored but had not been confirmed so far.

Although he pointed out that the accusations against him are intended to subject him to “public scorn”, he announced that he is at the disposal of the competent justice and will initiate legal actions “against all the active participants of these slanderous accusations”.

Romina Papasso became famous after an altercation with Frente Amplio militants during Lula’s visit to Uruguay in January.

She appeared in all the media shouting “delinquent” at the Brazilian President and was even recorded spitting at a leftist official in Montevideo.

She also gained a lot of fame on social networks during the campaign in defense of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC), painting graffiti in the streets against the repeal that the Uruguayan left tried to push, unsuccessfully.

Fame also linked her to greater exposure, and chaos broke out when Penadés publicly criticized her for her attitudes and said that he was “not aware” that Romina was part of the National Party, even suggesting that she was an infiltrator.

In Montevideo Portal, Romina revealed that she had sex twice with Penadés when she was 13.

For those encounters, the senator would have given her money as a “gift” after the act, which constitutes not only the crime of child abuse but also child exploitation.

In the last hours, the militant also published several images that other alleged victims sent her to prove her encounters with Penadés.

The Prosecutor’s Office took the case ex officio and assigned the magistrate of Sexual Crimes of 6th Turn, Alicia Ghione, in charge of the investigation.

“I didn’t even know who he was. I never saw him again or contacted him after those two encounters.”

“Then I remembered when I started to join his same list, but a little older. I don’t know what he must have felt that he came out to attack me now,” he declared.

“At that time, I was dressed as a man.”

“He assures them that he wants nothing to do with people dressed as girls.”

“He likes young men,” she added.

Meanwhile, President Lacalle Pou and Interior (Security) Minister Luis Alberto Heber, who belong to the same sector of the National Party as Penadés, came to the senator’s defense, declaring that they have known him all their lives and that they chose to “believe him” about his denial of the facts.

However, the attitude of the Secretary of the Presidency, Lacalle’s right-hand man, and a potential presidential candidate in the next electoral cycle, Álvaro Delgado, is curious.

He did not support Penadés and said it is necessary to “handle the issue seriously.”

Delgado welcomed the decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the matter ex officio since, he said, taking on the case would give “guarantees to all” to get to the truth.

“We have to go to those areas that give guarantees to all and seriousness in handling the issue,” he said.

Romina belonged to the sector led by Delgado within the Party and has affirmed to know “very well” the leader.

Days before making public the name of Penadés, when she had already made public her complaint on the internet that “there is a pedophile within the Party”, there was speculation on social networks that the accused in question could be Delgado.

Romina quickly made public the name and dispelled the speculation.

From the opposition sector, the silence of the Frente Amplio in the face of these denunciations is very striking.

It should be clarified that this party supports the feminist collective and has made extensive campaigns to defend women and trans people, denouncing and accusing the “patriarchy” of silencing their voices.

On the issue, the President of the Colectividad, Fernando Pereira, who criticized Lacalle for backing Penadés, was the only one to declare:

“It seems to me that it is not right to take positions on issues being investigated.”

“I suppose that there are more personal than political aspects”.

In his view, the logical attitude would have been to let justice act “with lower pressure levels”.

With information from La Derecha Diario