The National Navy incorporated this Friday a new search and rescue vessel from Germany, which will be based in the port of La Paloma, and which will fulfill its mission on the maritime front. In the framework of the ceremony, Minister García stressed that “this is part of the process of renewal of the fleet for the National Navy” and called on the political parties to assume a commitment during the next electoral campaign, to continue with the process of modernization of the three forces.
It was held this Friday at the naval base of La Paloma, the flag ceremony of the search and rescue boat from Germany, incorporated into the National Navy, with the name of ROU 53 “Isla Farallon”.
In addition to Minister García, the event was attended by Undersecretary Rivera Elgue, the Commander in Chief of the Navy Admiral Jorge Wilson, Navy officers and members of the German Association for the Rescue of Castaways, the organization that donated the vessel.
At a press conference, the minister said that “this is part of the process of renewing the fleet for the National Navy, of a search and rescue vessel that has been donated by Germany, the German Rescue Service, which is going to be here at this base in La Paloma and that is going to provide services for this immense seafront that we have here. oceanic.”
He said that “next year, the Korean patrol boat that will be in the first half of next year will also join La Paloma, for sure. So the base of La Paloma is going to be a base that begins to equip itself and begins to have a presence precisely to have sovereignty, to take care of our natural resources.”
The minister indicated that “we all know that our fish is frequently stolen, that is, that it is often fished illegally to carry out the search for rescue, so that the National Navy can be at the service of the country, as it has to be with ships. Armed forces, unarmed and unequipped, are not forces. And Uruguay needs armed and equipped forces. And we committed ourselves that within the budgetary limitations that always exist, the National Navy and the Armed Forces would begin a process of modernization,” he remarked.
He added that “this is part, it is the fourth ship that joins the National Navy in three years, of four more that are going to be incorporated between this period and the first years of the next one. And I think it was a necessity for the country that we be, in this case, the National Navy at sea, taking care of our natural resources, our sovereignty, making sure that Uruguay, which has more sea than land, was present and did not give away this immense part of its territory that is the maritime.”
Commitment
The minister then reflected on the upcoming election campaign. “You were asking about the upcoming campaign, how good it would be, reasoning us, if we all share the political parties, that the Armed Forces have to be modernized and equipped, how good that we make a commitment so that all the political parties in the next government continue this process of modernization, not only in the Navy, but also in the Navy. but in the National Army and the Air Force,” he said.
He said that “we have to have security and defense, we have to have, as I said, our seas and our waters guarded, we have to have our borders well guarded, with an army that has re-equipment and that can provide services with new technologies, and of course an air force, and we are going to work for it, that can once again cover and take care of our airspace. so that drug trafficking and organized crime do not pass, and cannot go through the skies with impunity, so that our seas are covered and so are our borders. Natural disasters, drug trafficking, organized crime, terrorism, in short, so many missions that have to have equipped and modern Armed Forces,” he stressed.
Godmother
The minister was asked about the fact that the godmother of this boat is the director of the La Paloma school. “An unusual and fair fact,” Garcia said, adding that “for it to be fair, there has to be someone who recognizes it. And I believe that the National Navy, the naval command, did very well in this conjunction, between the armed forces, in this case, public education, the public school here in La Paloma, its director, who occurs in an unprecedented event, the godmother of the ship. So the Uruguayan population, the civilian world, in this case the public school, comes together with a ship of the National Navy that is at the service of the Nation. It’s a very nice gesture because I think it distinguishes the Armed Forces, the Navy and public schools,” he said.