Mayor of the Gipuzkoan town of Lasarte-Oria for 24 years, the socialist Ana Urchuegía was one of the symbols of resistance against ETA, especially between the late 1990s and the beginning of this century. A decade ago, however, she was plagued by a corruption scandal linked to the management of funds for development cooperation sent from the municipality that she directed to the Nicaraguan town of Somoto. In 2015, judicial proceedings were opened against Urchueguía, reopened in 2021, and which is now about to be closed, once the former mayoress has reached an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office in which she acknowledges that she committed ongoing crimes of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds directed to cooperation.
The agreement involves all parties in the process: Urchueguía's defense, the Prosecutor's Office and the two parties involved in the criminal proceedings: the former mayor of Lasarte-Oria, Patxi Barrio (of EH Bildu) and the City Council itself, governed by the PSE. This pact means that both trial and prison will be avoided in exchange for the confession and a sentence of 18 years of disqualification, as well as a fine of 2,160 euros
Specifically, Urchueguía acknowledges that he committed the aforementioned crimes of prevarication and embezzlement of public funds between the years 2000 and 2009, and he did so in relation to the municipal funds that the Lasarte-Oria City Council approved to cooperate with the development of the town Nicaraguan Somoto, a town of 40,000 inhabitants twinned with the Guipuzcoan municipality.
The confession is related to around a hundred files that were channeled outside the legal procedure or that were directed to purposes other than those initially planned. The Grupo Noticias media, which uncovered the corruption case, published that Urchueguía had important properties in Nicaragua, including a 96-hectare farm purchased from the NGO Asodecom (Community Development Association), promoted by the former mayoress herself and endowed with of public funds from Lasarte-Oria.
On the other hand, the Grupo Noticias media outlets brought to light a series of audios and videos in which Urchueguía's attitude towards the local peasants was questioned.
In any case, the agreement reached with the Prosecutor's Office establishes a relatively light sentence by stating that it has not been proven that Urchueguía seized economic amounts destined for development cooperation, so that he would not have obtained illicit personal enrichment. The pact also applies the reform of the crime of embezzlement approved in the last reform of the penal code, which significantly reduces the penalties.
The relationship between Lasarte-Oria and Somoto began in 1997, when a twinning agreement was signed and a municipal office was created to channel the subsidies. Over the course of a decade, the Lasarte-Oria City Council directed more than two million euros to projects related to the development of Somoto, although multiple irregularities occurred.
The PSE has announced this Tuesday that it is suspending Urchuegía, an affiliate of the party for four decades, from militancy. During these years, in addition to being mayoress of Lasarte-Oria, she has been a councilor in Hernani, a senator and delegate of the Basque Government in Chile and Peru.
