Luna Park Gala.

25.Sep.2009

Patiño Mayer: "if I made a mistake it was out of naivety”

Argentine Ambassador in Uruguay, Hernán Patiño Mayer, told Montevideo Portal that he had no interest in intervening in the country’s internal affairs. He added that the questions about his presence in a political act of FA held in Luna Park in Buenos Aires “are all part of the election campaign”

Patiño Mayer explained that that he had gone to the act in Luna Park because he had been invited by the Frente Amplio. “I was in Buenos Aires and, maybe with a bit of naivety but with no interest in intervening in Uruguayan internal affairs, I went with my 20 year old daughter. She wanted to meet Mujica and I wanted to see ‘Los Olimareños’. If the invitation had been made by Mr. Lacalle I would also have gone. It was in Buenos Aires, not in Montevideo.”

On Thursday 10th September, José Mujica and Danilo Astori organized a political act in the Luna park stadium. There was a turnout of 2500 people, and the act also had the presence of the mythical band Los Olimareños.

Yesterday, the Permanent Committee of the Legislative Power rejected a motion to call the Argentinean Ambassador’s attention for his participation in the event. The request was made by the PN, considering that Patiño Mayer’s presence in the event was highly inappropriate.

In declarations to Montevideo Portal, representative Jaime Trobo assured that the PN was going to wait and see what actions the Foreign Affairs Ministry was going to take, and expected Patiño Mayer to be considered persona non grata since his attendance to the event constituted a clear act of intervention in Uruguayan Internal affairs, something expressly forbidden in diplomats. PN also added that “this is not the first occasion in which the abovementioned person is disrespectful to the authorities and civil employees of our country, and his attitudes have bothered both The President and the Senator Jorge Larrañaga”.

According to Patiño Mayer the whole issue is all part of the whole election campaign. “it’s not the first time that people try to involve the Argentine Government, trying to get something out of the terrible conflict we’ve been having these past years”:
The diplomat mentioned, as an example, the references to José Mujica as “the Kirschner’s do-boy”, and the signs pasted around the city before his appearance in Buenos Aires, “with Mujica written with a K” (MujiK).

Mayer commented that he thought no Uruguayans would “pay attention to the fact that Patiño had gone to the event in order to define their vote. That would be underestimating the intelligence of the community’s political intelligence”.
The Ambassador also commented that there were other similar precedents, pointing out the commemoration event in honor of Batalla Madoller in 2004, which had had the presence of the US Ambassador, Martin Silverstein. “The election campaign was already running, and that was clearly a political event, and no one was scandalized by the fact that he was there”.

He also pointed out that Luis Batlle Berres, then the president of the Lower Chamber and later the country’s president had gone to the closing act of the Democratic Union In Buenos Aires.

One of the criticisms made by the nationalist legislators was the in reference to the scarf worn by the ambassador, which clearly had the colors of the FA.

When consulted about the topic, Patiño Mayer commented that it was the only scarf he had. “I used it that day because I have bronchitis that has been affecting me for over 20 days. That scarf has the same colors as the Artigas flag, the US flag and the French flag. It’s not my fault: it’s the only scarf I have: when someone gives me a new one I’ll use it.”