Luis Alberto Heber Fontana (born 1957) is a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an political figure of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

who served as

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between May 24, 2021 and November 2023. He previously served as Minister of Transport and Public Works (from March 1, 2020 to May 24, 2021),

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

(1995–2020) and as National Representative (1985–1995).

Background

Luis Alberto Héber comes from a prominent Uruguayan

family; he himself has also for many years associated himself with this party's cause. His father Mario Héber Usher was a prominent Senator among his Party's leadership. His uncle

Alberto Héber Usher Alberto Héber Usher (May 1, 1918 – January 19, 1981) was a Uruguayan politician, who served as President of the Uruguayan National Council of Government from March 1, 1966, to March 1, 1967. Background Héber was born in Montevideo. His ...

was

President of Uruguay The president of Uruguay (), officially known as the president of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (), is the head of state and head of government of Uruguay. The president presides over the Cabinet of Uruguay, Council of Ministers, directing ...

1966–1967. He was married to the late Beatrice Dominici, Italian, until her death. They have two daughters.

Political career

In 1989 Heber was elected to serve as a National Representative, and served as President of the

Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay The Chamber of Representatives () is the lower house of the General Assembly of Uruguay (''Asamblea General de Uruguay''). The Chamber has 99 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation with at least two members per depa ...

from March 1, 1993 to March 1, 1994. In the 1994 election he was elected Senator, and in subsequent years was repeatedly re-elected. Heber was appointed Minister of Transport and Public Works on December 16, 2019, days after the victory of

Luis Lacalle Pou Luis Alberto Aparicio Alejandro Lacalle Pou (, ; born 11 August 1973), is a Uruguayan politician and lawyer, who served as the 42nd president of Uruguay from 2020 to 2025. The son of former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, Lacalle Pou attended ...

. He took office on March 1, in replacement of

Víctor Rossi Víctor Rossi (La Paz, Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones (; ) is one of the 19 Uruguayan departments. With an area of and 608,956 inhabitants at the 2023 Census, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelo ...

. However, after the sudden death of Interior Minister

Jorge Larrañaga Jorge Washington Larrañaga Fraga (8 August 1956 – 22 May 2021) was a Uruguayan lawyer and politician of the National Party (Uruguay), National Party (PN) who served as Ministry of the Interior (Uruguay), Minister of the Interior from 1 ...

, on May 24, 2021, President Lacalle Pou carried out a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

; Héber was appointed in replacement of Larrañaga as head of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, and José Luis Falero held the ministerial portfolio of Transport and Public Works.

Family incident and diplomatic repercussions

It has been notably alleged by Senator Luis Alberto Héber, who is a son of Cecilia Fontana de Héber, assassinated by person(s) unknown in 1978, that records may show that the US Embassy in Montevideo had knowledge of this tragic incident. According to Senator Héber, his mother was assassinated because of efforts of local secret intelligence circles to preserve in office President

Aparicio Méndez Aparicio Méndez Manfredini (24 August 1904 – 27 June 1988) was a Uruguayan lawyer and politician. He was a de facto President of Uruguay from 1976 to 1981 as a non-democratically elected authority of the civic-military dictatorship. Backg ...

, alleged again by Senator Héber to have been a CIA asset. Again according to Senator Héber, the US Embassy was playing a 'double game' in 1978, talking human rights but simultaneously working with Uruguayan secret intelligence figures in order to defend President Méndez's position.(in Spanish) ''Heber - fueron los servicios de inteligencia'' Caras y Caretas (Uruguay), 12 January 2016

/ref> In 2008 US Ambassador to Uruguay

Frank E. Baxter Frank E. Baxter (born 1936) is an American businessman and diplomat. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the United States Ambassador to Uruguay from 2006 to 2009 under President of the United States, Presi ...

was involved in controversial, high level exchanges regarding Uruguayan investigations into Senator Héber's mother's assassination and the allegations which arose from the tragic incident.

References

;Sources * :es:Luis Alberto Heber 1957 births Uruguayan people of German descent Uruguayan people of Italian descent Presidents of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay Members of the Senate of Uruguay Living people National Party (Uruguay) politicians Ministers of transport and public works of Uruguay {{Uruguay-politician-stub

Background

Political career

Family incident and diplomatic repercussions

See also

References