Door open to Russian influence Uruguay: Laura Raffo's unusual endorsement of Putin's propaganda in Antel

By Arturo Mondragón

The Russian influence Uruguay has just found an unexpected ally in the chairs of the Telecommunications Tower. In a turn that can only be described as political and moral suicide, the director of Antel for the National Party, Laura Raffo, voted in favor of reinstating the RT (Russia Today) signal to the Antel TV grid. He did so in harmony with the Frente Amplio, sealing a unanimity that sounds like a slap in the face for those who defended freedom against the invading boot of Vladimir Putin in 2022.

The most irritating thing about this episode is not only the return of the propaganda channel, but the justification given by the economist. Raffo, appointed to a position of extremely high political responsibility, tried to whitewash her decision by assuring that “she did not evaluate it as something political.” This technical cynicism is, in reality, a confession of incompetence or, worse still, of indifference to the hybrid war that the Kremlin is waging against the West. Not evaluating the presence of a Russian state disinformation organ in the Uruguayan public company as "policy" is simply not understanding the 21st century.

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Political sources confirmed to Uruguay a Day that the movement within the Directory occurred in a climate of absolute complacency, where the ruling party leadership preferred to avoid conflict with the internal opposition in exchange for ceding strategic space to an aggressing foreign power. This pact of administrative silence has left the Multicolor Coalition in a position of unsustainable ethical vulnerability: How do you now explain to the international community that Uruguay is once again the megaphone of a regime that bombs civilians in Ukraine?

The danger of Russian influence Uruguay in telecommunications

It is necessary to call a spade a spade: RT is not a news signal; It is a tool of war. Funded directly by Russia's defense and communications budget, this medium has been banned in the European Union, United States United and the Kingdom United by being a vector of systematic lies. From their screens the Bucha massacre is justified, Ukrainian sovereignty is denied and the most rancid authoritarianism is glorified. By allowing this signal to reach homes Uruguayans Through state infrastructure, Antel becomes a necessary accomplice to Putin's narrative.

The Russian influence Uruguay Through RT it seeks to sow doubt, polarization and justify war crimes under the guise of "informational pluralism." In 2022, the government of Luis Lacalle Pou He had the courage to remove the signal, understanding that Vera TV could not be a platform for an invader. Today, in 2026, that coherence has been sacrificed on the altar of relativism. Raffo, who arrived with the promise of modern management aligned with the values ​​of freedom, has ended up validating the same discourse that the Wide Front has pushed for years to please its authoritarian partners abroad.

Uruguay is a country small, whose only defense is its international prestige and its attachment to democratic principles. Giving space to RT is weakening that defense. Russia does not send TV channels to promote culture; He sends them to erode trust in democratic institutions and normalize state violence. Allowing pro-Russian communist propaganda to be transmitted from Antel is to invite a Trojan horse to sit at the table of Uruguayans.

This “forgetfulness” by Raffo about the political nature of his position is an affront to Coalition voters. She was not put at Antel to be a neutral technician in a laboratory, but to defend a vision of the country. Seeing her vote hand in hand with those who have historically defended every dictator who passes through Moscow is an image that should hurt anyone who believes in the ethics of the Party. National.

Antel's decision is not an isolated event, it is a symptom of a loss of direction. If the Uruguayan State is not capable of distinguishing between freedom of expression and war propaganda of an invading regime, then we have lost the moral compass. It is imperative that this measure be revoked immediately. Uruguay cannot be the port sure of Russian disinformation in the Southern Cone while the free world continues to combat the expansion of tyranny.

Rectification is the minimum that is expected. Laura Raffo and the Board owe a serious explanation, not administrative excuses, for why they decided that Putin's voice deserves a privileged place in our telecommunications network. Freedom is not an abstract concept that can be ignored to facilitate a Board vote; It is the supreme value that is defended with every vote, especially when you have the responsibility of managing the assets of the State.