Juan Bautista Gómez Duarte (born 29 June 1955) is a Uruguayan lawyer and prosecutor, currently serving as Attorney General of Uruguay since October 6, 2021.

Early life and education

Juan Bautista Gómez Duarte was born on June 29, 1958, in the rural area of Tranqueras,

Rivera Department Rivera Department () is a Departments of Uruguay, department of the northern region of Uruguay. It has an area of and a population of 109,300. Its capital is the city of Rivera. It borders Brazil to the north and east, Cerro Largo Department to t ...

. He is one of seven children born to Antón Gomez and Luisa "Anita" Duarte. He is of Brazilian descent through his father. At the age of seven he underwent heart surgery. He attended Rivera Department

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

and at the age of 19 he enrolled at the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

to study law.

Career

He began working as a civil servant in the

Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It ...

in 1975 while studying at the university. In 1997 he became a prosecutor and was assigned as a prosecutor in the city of

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a block away from it, at the north end of Route 5 (Uruguay), Route 5. Together, they form an ...

until 2000. Then he was assigned until 2009 as a Departmental Prosecutor of Maldonado. In office he prosecuted

Guillermo Coppola Guillermo Coppola is an Argentine businessman. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1948. He worked as the agent of over two hundred football players, and eventually became the agent of Diego Maradona. His relation with Maradona turned him into a famou ...

for obstruction of justice. From 2009 to 2012 he served as National Prosecutor of the Criminal Prosecutor's Office of Montevideo. In 2012 he was appointed head of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, a position in which he prosecuted well-known personalities such as the football executive

Eugenio Figueredo Eugenio Hermes Figueredo Aguerre (born 10 March 1932 in Santa Lucía, Uruguay) is a Uruguayan and American association football executive and former footballer. In May 2015, he was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee. Biography As a footballer, ...

, and the Minister of Economy of

José Mujica José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (20May 193513May 2025) was a Uruguayan politician, revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and imprisone ...

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

, Fernando Lorenzo. In 2016 he was promoted as head of the Montevideo Criminal Prosecutor's Office and a year later of the Criminal Homicide Prosecutor's Office. In April 2021 he was appointed Deputy Attorney General to then-incumbent Jorge Díaz Almeida, who resigned from the position in October. Due to this, Gómez took over as interim, pending the nomination of a new one, which corresponds to the Executive with the approval of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. However, since then no consensus has been achieved between all parliamentary groups.

Personal life

Gómez is married to lawyer Laura Bentos, and they have two daughters, Daniela and Josefina. On December 27, 2023, he was hospitalized due to a health condition and it was announced that he would require "prolonged treatment."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gómez Duarte, Juan Bautista Uruguayan lawyers Uruguayan people of Brazilian descent Uruguayan civil servants University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni Living people 1955 births