MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: Orsi denies sexual allegations involving transgender victim

Orsi did not rule out filing a complaint against Celeste

Uruguayan presidential hopeful Yamandú Orsi of the opposition Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) denied the sex scandal allegations against him launched by transexual militant Romina Celeste of President Luis Lacalle Pou's National Party, also known as White Party.

Orsi claimed Celeste's actions were “a very well-crafted game” he was not willing to play. He admitted not knowing who was behind the operation but did not rule out taking legal action. “In Uruguay, not everything can be valid, this is a political issue, a campaign issue. There is a lot behind it that we do not know what it is. This is not against a person, it is against democracy,” said Orsi.

“At first I thought it was a minor lie, but it is something more serious,” he added on Sunday.

Celeste accused him on social networks of beating a transsexual sex worker. ”A trans girl from Canelones, especially near what is Roosevelt Park, told me a very unfortunate experience. This gentleman, before becoming mayor (governor), decided to stop her, pick her up, and ask her for oral sex. When that was over, which we already know what I mean, the guy hit her, left her unconscious, and threw her on the grass and did not pay her,“ she said on X.

Asked about the impact of these allegations on his family life, Orsi replied that ”it always affects you“ but ”the issue is to have the spiritual and emotional preparation for this.“

Romina Celeste Papasso Oliver's political involvements date back to 2004 when still a boy he supported the late Interior Minister Jorge Larrañaga, a prominent White politician. At a Larrañaga rally, an FA supporter ”wanted to hit me” but was rescued by his grandmother.

Later on and after transitioning Romina Celeste became known for painting walls against the repeal of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) promoted by Lacalle Pou.

In January last year, when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Montevideo, she called him a “criminal,” and spat at a municipal official, for which she was handed down a suspended 7-month sentence.

On March 28 last year, she accused the Nationalist Senator Gustavo Penadés of sexual abuse when he was 13 years old, after which more than 20 sexual abuse charges were filed against the politician as other alleged victims came forward.

Penadés denied the accusations. Nevertheless, on June 8, 2023, the Senate unanimously approved the removal of Penadés' immunity.