by Jerold Last
During the delay while the plane was serviced we went through the Argentine departure and Uruguayan entry security rituals, then hopped back on the same plane, now cleaned and serviced, for the short flight across the Rio de la Plata to Montevideo’s Aeropuerto Carrasco. The Argentina to Uruguay flight went up and down in about a half-hour and we were in a different world, far from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires.
Carrasco Airport is small and old fashioned, situated just to the east of the city of Montevideo. We landed on the single runway in the airport. The plane taxied to a spot a few hundred feet from the terminal where we had most of the airport to ourselves. The passengers climbed down the stairs and were bussed to the terminal building. We, and our passports, had to clear a second look by customs officials before we were allowed to enter into Uruguay even though there had been Uruguayan officials at the airport in Argentina who had already inspected our passports quite carefully. The lines in the terminal were marked “Mercosur” and “other”. Most of the passengers went to the Mercosur line (Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile---the equivalent of a Southern Cone of South American Common Market), while we went to the other line.
We cleared Customs and Immigration with little fuss except for a cursory inspection of all our baggage by a bored customs agent and an even more casual examination of our passports by an Immigration agent sitting in a tiny booth with a long line of passengers waiting for clearance. We changed some dollars into Uruguayan pesos (twenty-something to the dollar), and were ready to go. Eduardo, who had managed to find a full-sized SUV to handle all of our stuff, was waiting for us in the airport lobby immediately after we passed through the doors from the closed area for clearing customs.
And that’s how we ended up with Eduardo picking up the entire entourage at Montevideo’s Aeropuerto Carrasco on Wednesday at noon when the Tuesday flight from Los Angeles by way of Washington D.C. and Buenos Aires arrived in Uruguay. Our entourage included two large suitcases full of the “essential” stuff for Robert and all of the additional baggage for three adults for a couple of weeks.
The traditional unisex South American hug, the "abrazo", was exchanged by all of us. Eduardo led the group to the parking lot where his rented SUV was parked in the front row, courtesy of his police placard in the windshield. There was a lot of discussion about Robert, who was the center of attention. Uncle Eduardo, Robert's Godfather, couldn't wait to get a good look at him without blankets obscuring his lower face and body. It was apparent that although he was an experienced father, in his Paraguayan culture actually handling the baby was Mother's job, not Father's. He clearly was from the school of look, but do not touch, the infant.
There was a lot of good-natured teasing going on between Eduardo and Suzanne about who should be changing the diaper that Robert clearly needed to have changed. "How about it Eduardo? Are you ready to learn how a made in the USA disposable diaper works?"
Eduardo recoiled in mock horror from the suggestion.
"Who is this gentleman standing next to you that I haven't met yet, at least officially?"
Eduardo's eyebrows went up a bit when we introduced him to Bruce and explained that he was Robert's Nanny, but the abrazo they shared was genuine nonetheless. We got organized and seated in a couple of minutes with Bruce sitting next to Suzanne, who was feeding Robert in the back seat, and me sitting shotgun in the front with Eduardo.
Chapter 3. Back to Uruguay
Eduardo drove us west from the airport into the heart of the city on a nice, if slightly crowded, recently repaved four-lane road. There was new construction, businesses, and a eucalyptus forest named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt alongside the busy highway. We joined the heavy traffic driving west towards downtown Montevideo along the wide boulevard called The Rambla beside the Rio de la Plata. It would take us less than a half hour from the airport until we arrived atthe Balmoral Plaza Hotelin downtown Montevideo, where we had stayed the last time we were here. Eduardo told us that he had booked two rooms for us and that both rooms would have cribs in them.Our hotel was on a busy commercial plaza in the heart of downtown and featured a nice view of the Plaza Cagancha, a park area surrounding an elegant statue of one of Uruguay's many heroes of its battle for independence from Argentina, across the busy street in front of the hotel. Suzanne kept busy pointing out sights to Bruce she remembered from our last visit here.
Roger finally broke the silence in the front seat as he leaned forward towards our driver. “Eduardo, I think it’s probably time for you to explain to us what’s going on here.”
There was a long silence as Eduardo collected his thoughts. “Roger, it’s complicated. But I’ll try. Martin Gonzalez called me in Asuncion a few weeks ago to tell me that he had a case assigned to him that had a Paraguayan connection. He thought I might be able to help him out with his case. Apparently someone is anonymously buying up huge amounts of land in Uruguay and Paraguay via an agent, and something didn’t sit right with Martin. As we both know, his instincts tend to be good in sniffing out conspiracies with very little evidence to go on. So, I arranged with him to fly down to Montevideo to go over what evidence he had and to discuss what he was thinking.
"Before I left Asuncion I checked in with my contact person in the Mossad, the Israeli equivalent of your CIA, just to let her know where I was going to be for the couple of days I expected to be out of town. She exploded. When she calmed down, she told me to stay home. Apparently, Uruguay is the next 'neutral country' in line to be elected to a seat on the U.N. Security Council. The problem is that Uruguay’s new government is pretty far to the left politically, and supports Palestine in the Middle East rather than Israel. The last thing they wanted to see happen was a Mossad agent like me visibly mixed up in the internal affairs of Uruguay during this ultra-sensitive time. So, I was effectively grounded. Martin and I agreed that he would FAX me some stuff and we’d discuss it after I had time to read the pile of paper."
"So your bosses in the Mossad basically grounded you?" asked Suzanne, entering our conversation as she leaned towards the front seats. "Does that mean you weren't supposed to go to Uruguay? And if that's the case, what are you doing here now?"
For just an instant, Eduardo let his irritation show. "As you know, I'm a very experienced field agent, Suzanne. I've been doing this stuff for the better part of 20 years. That means I have a lot of trust built up with my big bosses in Jerusalem and a lot of discretion is usually allowed. They gave me advice, not absolute orders. I was to use my judgment whether to get involved, but if I did get involved it was a requirement that I do so only in my role as a Paraguayan policeman, and maintain a very low profile and not request or use any official help from the Mossad for any operations that were inside of, or had any direct affect on, Uruguay. Does that answer your questions for now, Suzanne?"
"Yes, I think so," she replied.
“So far, so good," continued Eduardo as he sat back and noticeably relaxed. "I got a fat pile of documents that Martin Gonzalez FAXed me in Asuncion for some late night bedtime reading. You can look at these papers if you wish, but I assure you that you don't want to. The brief summary: Someone from Montevideo is buying up huge chunks of land in Paraguay and Argentina along the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. They also seem to buying a lot of land on other tributary rivers that feed into the Uruguay River on both sides of the border between Uruguay and Argentina. The pattern is unusual; it looks more like they want to buy up all of the water rights than to build a huge estancia to run cattle over. The total amount of money involved thus far looks a lot like the annual national budget of Paraguay. Martin was worried that something funny was going on. There are several huge hydroelectric dams that depend on the water flow in these rivers to generate most of the electricity that Uruguay and Paraguay use, and there are more and more reasons for us to use hydroelectric power: green energy, carbon credits, low cost, no imported oil or natural gas needed. So he asked me to take a look.
As he went on, his voice became more an
imated. He was obviously getting to the exciting part for him. "This is the kind of stuff that the Mossad wants to know about, so all of a sudden my involvement became not only legitimate, but a priority for my bosses, as you call them. I had to operate on the same rules---don't get caught in Uruguay and don't make waves---but now I could use the resources of the Mossad if I was discrete about it. They were especially concerned about whether there were any international connections with the sources of the money being spent, especially connections to the Middle East. The last thing in the world they want to see down here in South America is a new major source of financing for Al Quaida and the other terrorist organizations that most threaten them.
"So there are two concerns I'm supposed to be investigating. The first is where is the money coming from and does this flow of cash pose any threat to Israel? That's pretty simple on paper. I have to follow the trail of the money back to its source and figure out what flavor of bad guys are behind all of this. I have the resources to do this from Paraguay since it's mostly a lot of boring stuff on computers. My working hypothesis until proven wrong is that these are narcodollars that are being sent to Montevideo for the purpose of laundering the money into what looks like legitimate investments in real estate. But, if they are, these guys aren't investing for the long term; they're too greedy for that. So that takes us to the second concern.
"The second concern is a lot more difficult. Basically I'm supposed to find the answer to whether if some group got too much control of the water rights in this part of the world, would that be a threat to the current democratically elected governments in all of the countries down here? That means I have to operate in Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. I think there may be some likely parallels with the water wars that took place in the western USA, especially in California, in the 19th and early 20th Century. Our laws here are similar to the western USA, except that the various jurisdictions are separate countries rather than states. Whoever owns the water upstream of a location controls the water and can pretty much do whatever they want to do with it. One possibility is that someone wants to control most of the water that comes down through the Uruguay River into the Rio de la Plata. Another possibility is that they want to build a big hydroelectric dam on the river and sell electric power to Brazil and Argentina.
A third possibility is they want to develop industry along the river and not have to be held responsible for water pollution. There is some precedent for this suggestion in the two large paper plants Uruguay allowed to be built on the river several years ago that got Argentina so upset. Anyway, something is going on that we need to understand better. Are you with me this far?"
"I think so," I answered.
From the back seat Suzanne said, "So far, so good."
Robert made sucking and gurgling sounds.
"Now for the fun parts," continued Eduardo. "First, the most important name associated with all of the legal documents is one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Uruguay, the Sanchez family. They can trace their roots back to the George Washington of Uruguay, General Artigas. Among other things they own the largest private investment bank in Uruguay. They run just like the Swiss banks that you are a lot more familiar with in the USA---very discreet and not too concerned with whether the money they handle for their client's investments is clean or dirty. So we have a powerful, politically connected, rich Uruguayan family involved in whatever is going on here. Exactly what the Mossad warned me not to get caught investigating. Second, if this is local money, the kind of money we're talking about can come from only two kinds of activities that happen here in South America, either drug manufacture, export, and sales or from money laundering for the drug cartels.
"The last piece of the puzzle you need to know is that the local investigation here in Montevideo was assigned to Lieutenant Martin Gonzalez and his partner Detective Jose Gonzalez. You remember Martin from your last murder case here in Montevideo. He's the exceedingly good policeman who reminded you of the character on TV, Columbo. You may also remember his partner Jose who you also met when you discovered that body on the Ramblas. He's not an exceedingly good policeman; he was actually an exceedingly dishonest and corrupt one who was killed several days ago under very suspicious circumstances. We know that Detective Jose Gonzalez was a crooked cop, and that he was taking money from known drug dealers in return for losing key bits and pieces of evidence or tipping them off about pending investigations and arrests. For some reason, perhaps because of Martin's obvious distaste for his partner and because of the peculiar details of how and where he was killed, Martin is considered a suspect in Jose's murder."
"And that brings us to why we're here, right?" I asked.
"Right," Eduardo replied.
"If I get it," I asked, "You're the brains of this operation and we're the expendables in case the Uruguayan authorities need some warm bodies to blame for investigating one of the richest and politically best connected families in Montevideo. Our job is to clear Martin of the possible murder charge and to get the answers to your two concerns while we're at it. Is that about right?"
"Si, Senor Bowman."
"What do you think about this deal, Robert?"
I took the continuing sucking and gurgling sounds I was hearing as a positive vote.
"And you, Suzanne?" I asked.
"I think Robert, Bruce, and I have a great opportunity to catch up on the tourism I missed the last time I was here when I was giving lectures and seminars at the university while you had the free time to play. But I have the feeling that sooner or later you guys will suck me into your macho games. To be completely honest about it, I have to admit that life was getting a little boring, so part of me is looking forward to that happening."
"How about you, Bruce?" I asked.
"Don't worry about me," he answered from the back seat. "I didn't hear anything from that last conversation. But I like the idea of going to the museums and shopping with Suzanne and Robert while you're out being a detective. You don't have to worry about either of them being safe while you're busy. I'll look after both of them."
By this time we had arrived at the hotel. Eduardo pulled up to the front door, parked the SUV, and started handing baggage to the waiting bellman that had come out of the hotel when he saw the vehicle arrive.
Suzanne couldn't resist one final comment before we got out of the car.
"We'll skip the early morning jog on the Rambla tomorrow if you don't mind, Roger. I think Robert is still too young to find his first dead body." She was reminding me again of what had happened on our first day in Montevideo the last time we were here, when we discovered the dismembered body of a young woman lying on the beach between two monuments.
With Eduardo's help we got everybody checked in and upstairs with the luggage. We left Robert taking a nap under Bruce's watchful eye in one of the rooms while Bruce ordered a room service lunch and the three of us went back downstairs to eat our lunch at a nearby restaurant.
We were seated and ordering beef, salads, and our favorite Tannat wine in less than 20 minutes.
"I have a question for you now," asked Eduardo, looking at both of us while he performed the ritual tasting of the wine after the waiter poured a small dollop into his glass. At least in Uruguay they seemed to have dispensed with the part of the ritual where the customer sniffs the cork before tasting the wine. "What's with Bruce saying he would look after Suzanne? With her skills in karate and his gender orientation, I'd think it would be the other way around."
"Actually, Eduardo, you're stereotyping and you're wrong," Suzanne replied, watching the waiter pour wine into her glass. "I met Bruce at the dojo where I train. He was a Navy Seal before he became a professional nanny. As good as I am at karate, he can beat me easily in any competition and he has, several times. He's faster, stronger, and better than I am. He's a great Nanny and we love having him to help with Robert's care. But if I had only one guy to pick to protect Roger or me in a tight spot, Bruce would be at the top of my list!"
&nb
sp; I sipped some of the wine, a favorite of mine, and not yet widely available in the USA so a special treat in Uruguay. "OK. Now that we all know each other's credentials let's hear Eduardo's ideas. Tell us what you've planned to have us do over the next few days."
The conversation paused while the waiter served our meals.
Eduardo started cutting his beef and eating it as small pieces accompanied by sips of wine and forkfuls of salad. "I have a pretty good idea of what our priorities should be, but not much detail planned. We have to visit the apartment where the murder took place. With your skills as a former homicide detective in Los Angeles, Roger, I hope you'll see something the Montevideo police and I missed that might help us give the local cops a better suspect for the killing than Martin. So step one, this afternoon's project, is to get you access to the crime scene.
"Tomorrow, we have an appointment with the richest banker in Montevideo in the middle of the morning at his apartment. If we can bring Suzanne with us, I thought you two might enjoy playing the role of a rich couple of gringos with a large chunk of money to invest in our local real estate. We might learn something from his reactions to that kind of opportunity falling into his lap from heaven, or wherever else it might have originated. After those two tasks are accomplished, what happens next is totally up in the air, and I was hoping that the two of you would bring some fresh ideas down here with you. Hopefully, one thing will lead to another."