Former Foreign Minister, Francisco Bustilloreappeared in the political arena, exercising functions in Chancellery, after his scandalous resignation due to his involvement in the case of the delivery of the passport to the drug trafficker, still at large, Sebastian Marset.
This was confirmed by the current chancellor, Omar Paganini, to the press by assuring that Bustillo returned after submitting his resignation to the president Luis Lacalle Pou in November of last year when his involvement in the Uruguayan drug trafficker case was confirmed.
“He is in an advisory position within the area of the General Directorate of Policy,” said the Minister of External relationships In dialogue with Channel 5. Paganini specified that Bustillo is an advisor to the Director General for Political Affairs and former ambassador of Paraguay and Costa Rica, Fernando Sandin Tusso and returned to work on Monday of this week.
The reason for the scandal
It was in November of last year that Bustillo decided to leave his position as head of the Foreign Affairs portfolio, after a series of audios were made public where he asked the former vice-chancellor, Carolina Achewho lost his cell phone, which contained warnings about the potential danger of granting a passport to the drug trafficker Sebastian Marsetwhen he was imprisoned in Dubai (United Arab Emirates)in 2021.
At that time, the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pouwas traveling to USA to participate in the first summit of the Alliance for Economic Prosperity in the Americas (APEP) when he found out about the release of the audios between Bustillo and Ache.
After this, he maintained communication with the president (in office) Beatriz Argimónand the Secretary of the Presidency, Alvaro Delgado, who was touring the interior of the country.
What is the status of the Marset case?
The former presidential custodian, Alexander Astesiano, He was the last to testify in the case of the Uruguayan drug trafficker who remains a fugitive from justice. There, he spoke about his relationship with Carolina Ache and said that he does not know her.
At a press conference his lawyer, Ignacio Duran, He assured that Astesiano has no relationship with the former vice-chancellor. “He made it clear that he knows nothing, he had no clue of anything, he heard nothing, he does not know Carolina Ache“He doesn’t know Marset,” said the lawyer regarding the possible relationship between the former custodian of the presidency and Ache.
Suspicions began after an audio that was leaked between the notary convicted of Russian passports and Astesiano. “Hello!!! How are you? How is everything? I imagine it’s a bit complicated because of this case that came out now, right??? Hugs,” the text recited, according to what La Diaria published. To this, Astesiano replied: “Everything is fine. The one who is going to eat there is the vice minister (for Carolina Ache), for something he did. And he still did it while we were there in “Dubai”.
Regarding this, the lawyer clarified that Astesiano’s statements were related to what the press said about Ache and not because he has any relation to politics. “He gave a personal opinion, a perception of what he read in the press and what was happening in the interpellation,” he said and clarified that the former custodian’s statements correspond to what he had been speculating about Ache.
“It was simply a comment based on press reports that she might have some issue related to the delivery of the passport. It was a mere comment, she did not do it based on a rumor or something she had heard. She did not do it because she had information to provide,” he added.
In parallel to Astesiano’s statement, the former vice-minister assured that she does not know Astesiano either and that the former custodian’s confirmation proves that she was “a scapegoat” in the Marset case. “I learned about it through the press because I don’t know Alejandro Astesiano, I never had any kind of communication with him,” he told Informativo Sarandí.
Source: Ambito
