Police in Uruguay on Monday arrested the head of personal security for the country’s president, Luis Lacalle Pou, for allegedly participating in a scheme to help hundreds of Russians obtain Uruguayan passports illegally.
Alejandro Astesiano would be helping these Russians to pose as the children of Uruguayans – which, by law, would make it easier to obtain passports and other identity documents. The exact number of people who hired the scheme is uncertain, but the prosecution in the case puts it in the hundreds.
According to police sources cited by the local media, the security guard used his network of influence to speed up the printing of the necessary documents. Before the arrest, Astesiano was on a trip with Lacalle Pou and their children.
“I am as surprised as all of you,” the president told reporters in an interview called immediately after the arrest. “I’m disgusted,” he added. He promised that his government will not interfere in the investigations.
Before the press conference, the Uruguayan newspaper El Observador reported that Astesiano, even before being hired as a security guard for Lacalle Pou, was the subject of 20 investigations, including crimes such as fraud, embezzlement and theft. The Uruguayan president, however, denied the accusations.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Russians have left the country fearing retaliation for criticism leveled at the Kremlin or fleeing the consequences of Western sanctions. In the vast majority of cases, dissidents make up Russia’s urban middle class.
Also on Monday, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo urged the UN General Assembly that Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine “as soon as possible”.
“Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine is unjustified,” he said, adding that the war destabilizes the international market and affects populations in less developed countries.
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