Uruguay Investigates Pre-election Threats from Brazilian Far-Right Group

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Messages with threats sent from Brazil to recipients in Uruguay on the eve of the second round of Uruguay’s presidential election are being investigated by authorities in the neighboring country.

Written in Spanish, the messages have been sent from at least six Brazilian DDDs (Distance Direct Dialing) codes; nine numbers have been identified so far. The exact number of mass messages is not yet known, but it is estimated that there were “thousands”. Uruguay has a population of 3.4 million.

“It is clear that the numbers are Brazilian. This attracted a great deal of attention. I believe that this is to throw off the investigation to track the messages sent out,” Leonardo Di Cesare, the attorney behind the denunciation, told the story.

The case is now in the hands of prosecutor Pablo Rivas, of the 6th District Attorney’s Office of Blatant Crimes of Montevideo. The body confirmed to the story that it is investigating the threats.

“We know who you are and we are expecting you and your family’s vote to save the homeland. That’s an order! Orders are obeyed, and whoever does not do so will be a traitor. We know how to handle traitors. The only option is to win. Better to fall on your back than on your knees. We will be in touch. Wait for news. We are starting to come back”, reads the text signed by Command Barneix.

The message ordered the vote for Luis Lacalle Pou (National Party) since he was the candidate supported “by our Army General Commander Guido Manini Ríos,” according to the text. Manini Ríos, who was the Army’s highest authority, was expelled by President Tabaré Vásquez (Broad Front) in 2018 after political statements, which is prohibited by law.

The ex-military officer was a presidential candidate in the last election but did not make it to the second round. Lacalle Pou won by 1.2 percent against governor Daniel Martínez. Manini Ríos’ party, however, will be part of the government.

The signing of the messages by Command Barneix left authorities and human rights activists on alert. The reason for this is that the group is the same one that threatened 13 people of death in 2017.

The group’s name is a reference to Pedro Barneix, an Uruguayan general who committed suicide in 2015 before being arrested after being sentenced for the death of socialist activist Aldo Perrini in 1974. Perrini died after being tortured by the military under Barneix’s order.

With each suicide for what they consider “unfair trial” for crimes committed by the military during the dictatorship, the Barneix Command threatened to randomly kill three people on the list of 13 threatened, among them Jair Krischke, of the Justice and Human Rights Movement (MJDH), based in Porto Alegre.

“All these people threatened in 2017 were linked to the defense of victims of crimes committed by the Uruguayan dictatorship. What the military wants is not to be prosecuted,” explains Krischke.

Krischke became the target of threats due to the fact that he contributed to cases that resulted in convictions of Uruguayan military officers in the courts. In 2010, Krischke helped locate Uruguayan Col. Manuel Cordero, on the run in Santana do Livramento, on the border of Rio Grande do Sul with Uruguay.

Cordero has been extradited and is serving a 25-year prison term in Argentina for human rights violations in the so-called Operation Condor, the joint action of Latin American dictatorships. The activist also helped locate military man Pedro Mato Narbondo, also in Livramento. Narbondo is on the run from Uruguayan justice.

In 2017, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called for a series of measures regarding the safety of those under threat and demanded investigation and punishment. “They started an investigation that so far has no clear answer, without accountability,” says attorney Di Cesare.

“With the new messages, the underlying issue is impunity. Impunity has made them feel encouraged, they feel encouraged to threaten people just before an election,” says Krischke.

Source: Folhapress