Uruguay’s Opposition Refers Councillor to Ethics Over Drug-Money Aide
URUGUAY · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Uruguay, a nation of about 3.4 million between Brazil and Argentina, is usually ranked among South America’s cleanest democracies. Drug money on a party payroll therefore draws unusual attention.
- Why it matters The Uruguay National Party, known as the Blancos, is the main opposition force. One of its Montevideo councillors employed an aide who was later convicted of laundering drug money.
- What happened On Sunday 27 September a party committee recommended that its Ethics Committee examine councillor Gonzalo Gómez. It called the affair one “of enormous gravity”.
- The numbers The aide, Pablo Leiva, was sentenced on 18 September to two years and six months. Police seized almost 3 million pesos (about US$74,000) from his home and car.
- What it means for you The case tests whether Uruguay’s parties can police drug money on their own payrolls. That matters to anyone who counts on the country’s reputation for clean institutions.
- Still open The party’s national board is due to consider the recommendations on Monday 5 October, according to party sources cited by Montevideo Portal.
Uruguay National Party leaders have moved to put one of their own Montevideo councillors before the party’s ethics body. His paid aide was convicted this month of laundering drug money.
The party’s Political Affairs Committee made the recommendation on Sunday 27 September, Montevideo Portal and El Observador reported. “That a person convicted over drug trafficking gained a post of political trust is of enormous gravity,” the committee said.
What the party decided
The councillor, Gonzalo Gómez, sits on Montevideo’s Departmental Board, the capital’s local legislature. According to Montevideo Portal, he asked party chairman Álvaro Delgado to send his case to the Ethics Committee himself.
Gómez will also request leave from the party’s national board, the Directorio, “until all responsibilities are clarified”, Montevideo Portal and Subrayado reported. The reports describe leave from that party post, not his council seat.
The committee also backed the resignation of Lucio Leiva, the convicted man’s son, from the party’s Montevideo youth committee. Gómez will drop him as an adviser, at the son’s own request, El Observador reported.
The conviction behind it
Pablo Leiva, the father, was a paid adviser to Gómez at the council. On Friday 18 September he got two and a half years for money laundering and ammunition trafficking, Montevideo Portal and El Observador reported.
The case grew out of Operation Trazador, which seized over 260 kilos of cocaine and cocaine paste, la diaria reported. Prosecutors said Leiva took drug cash in order to move it into the legal financial system.
Police seized 2,980,240 pesos (about US$74,000) from his home and car, Subrayado reported. His son was detained with him but later freed on the prosecutor’s orders.
Gómez has said he “never knew or suspected” the link, while admitting he was not “sufficiently cautious” in hiring him. The conviction itself was covered in Uruguay Jails Opposition Party Aide for Laundering Drug Money.
Wider fallout
The Board of Transparency and Public Ethics, Uruguay’s state integrity watchdog, has received a complaint over the hiring, Montevideo Portal reported. President Yamandú Orsi said on Saturday that “the deeper the investigation goes, the better”, according to Subrayado.
Reports have also linked a bill-payment office owned by the wife of party figure Jorge Gandini to the case. Gandini says the aide “only paid bills” there and that his family has “nothing to hide”, El País and El Observador reported.
What Is Not Yet Known
The Uruguay National Party’s Directorio is due to take up the recommendations on Monday 5 October, party sources told Montevideo Portal. It is not clear what sanctions the Ethics Committee could impose.
No charge against Gómez or any other politician has been reported. The watchdog has not said whether it will open a formal case.
Prosecutors may widen the inquiry to other people, El Observador reported, including the role of the bill-payment office.
More: Uruguay news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is a Montevideo councillor facing an ethics panel?
His paid aide, Pablo Leiva, was convicted of laundering drug money; a National Party committee recommended on 27 September that its Ethics Committee examine councillor Gonzalo Gómez.
What was the aide convicted of?
Leiva was sentenced on 18 September to two years and six months; police seized almost 3 million pesos (about US$74,000) from his home and car.
Why does the case matter in Uruguay?
Uruguay is usually ranked among South America’s cleanest democracies, so drug money on a party payroll draws unusual attention.
What happens next?
The party’s national board must still decide; the case tests whether Uruguay’s parties can police drug money on their own payrolls.
Sources: Montevideo Portal, 27 September 2026; El Observador, 28 September 2026; Subrayado, 27 September 2026; Subrayado (Orsi), 26 September 2026; la diaria, 23 September 2026; El País.
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