Tell Me Who You Walk With: The Geopolitical Cost of Orsi’s Alliances

Uruguay’s international projection raises questions about leadership, ethics, and political alignment

Tell Me Who You Walk With…
And I Will Tell You Where You Lead Us
By Dr. Nelson Jorge Mosco Castellano

The recent tour of candidate Yamandú Orsi through Spain, which cost every Uruguayan taxpayer money, has raised alarms across Uruguay’s political landscape.
Beyond the hypocrisy of the argument that “justified” yet another presidential trip, protocol photos, and speeches about “progressive brotherhood,” the group of international figures surrounding the President of the Republic (who acts as a leader of the Frente Amplio) carries a burden of judicial proceedings, suspicions of systemic corruption, and serious questions about their personal integrity that is, to say the least, disturbing.
It is not a minor detail that, by surrounding himself with such a crowd, Orsi was absent from the commemoration of a significant national date, honoring those who fought for our freedom.
That is to say, while on April 19, 2026, Uruguay commemorates 201 years since the landing of the Thirty-Three Orientals — the historic Liberating Crusade led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja at Playa de la Agraciada on April 19, 1825, marking the beginning of the independence process — its president completed his tenth trip in just over a year.
And this event, hypocritically titled “Summit in Defense of Democracy,” was precisely an act of paying tribute to “progressive” leaders who have supported some of the most oppressive contemporary dictators, who have stripped their peoples of rights and freedom, subjugating them entirely.
The “Sánchez Clan”: Corruption in the Bedroom and in the Office
Orsi’s host, Pedro Sánchez, leads a government that today appears besieged by the courts.
The transparency he promised upon taking office has been eclipsed by a fully justified judicial siege that reaches his closest inner circle:
Begoña Gómez (his wife): Currently under investigation for influence peddling, corruption in business dealings, and embezzlement. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado is investigating how the president’s wife allegedly used her position in La Moncloa to favor businessmen who later financed her academic projects.
David Sánchez (his brother): Under investigation for embezzlement, misconduct, and tax fraud. He is questioned for holding a position “created to fit him” within the Badajoz provincial government and for his suspicious tax residence in Portugal to avoid paying taxes in Spain while receiving a public salary from La Moncloa.
The “Koldo Case” and Ábalos’ fall: José Luis Ábalos, who was Sánchez’s right-hand man, faces requests of up to 24 years in prison for criminal organization and bribery in the purchase of sanitary materials (masks) during the pandemic.
Gustavo Petro: A Crisis of Health or Addiction?
The presence of the Colombian president at the Barcelona summit did not go unnoticed, but not because of his oratory.
A shadow hangs over Petro that has ceased to be a mere rumor:
The former Foreign Minister’s accusation: Álvaro Leyva, his first foreign minister, a historic figure in Colombian politics and former ally of Petro, publicly denounced in 2025 that the president suffers from a severe drug addiction.
Leyva described unexplained disappearances of the head of state during official missions, as happened in Paris, where the president “vanished” for two days.
Drug money: At the same time, U.S. justice authorities and the Colombian prosecutor’s office are investigating the entry of drug trafficking funds into his presidential campaign, a case that already has his own son, Nicolás Petro, under prosecution for money laundering.
Claudia Sheinbaum: The Shadow of a “Narco-State”
The successor of López Obrador in Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, was also part of Orsi’s gathering.
Although she presents herself with a technical profile, the Mexican reality is relentless:
Collusion under scrutiny: Investigative articles (including reports in The New York Times) and complaints from the Mexican opposition point to an alleged collusion between her political party and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Criticism suggests that the security policy has amounted to a deliberate surrender of territories to criminal organizations.
We avoid, due to their repetitiveness, the well-known references to the corruption cases of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which range from bribery of legislators to the Odebrecht scandal that spread corruption throughout Latin America, from which he was released due to a legal maneuver that should not have exempted him from a proper judicial process.
What Model Does Uruguay Import While Honoring Its Fighters for Independence?
The old proverb that gives this article its title has rarely been so relevant.
For a country like Uruguay, which has historically prided itself on its institutional strength and public ethics, the company chosen by Orsi is revealing.
Is this the standard of transparency being sought for Uruguay?
When the “agent of change” is a structure surrounded by prosecutions for embezzlement and suspicions of ties to organized crime, the question is not only who the candidate walks with, but where he intends to take us from the Executive Tower.
“There is not only value in knowing who you walk with to understand who you are, but also to understand what kind of Spain — and what kind of American partners — you intend to build; for there is no worse blindness than that of those who confuse the height of a platform with the stature of the soul, nor greater danger than those who, in the name of freedom, end up embracing those who have made Power their only god and Law their carpet.”

Political alliances and global reputation
Public ethics and power
Contemporary regional geopolitics

This analysis is part of the Global Order and Geopolitics thematic axis