Montevideo police chief: “Anyone who thinks they are stronger than us is mistaken”
Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Montevideo Police Chief Alfredo Clavijo said security measures for Sunday’s Peñarol-Nacional match followed the plan, despite incidents involving prohibited flags and pyrotechnics.
- Investigators identified one person who has not been arrested, while another person has been convicted and three remain detained.
- Clavijo said police provide round-the-clock service across Montevideo and warned that authorities would not tolerate attempts to disrupt public order.
Montevideo Police Chief Alfredo Clavijo delivered a firm message after incidents at Sunday’s clásico between Peñarol and Nacional: “Anyone who thinks they are stronger than us is mistaken.”
Clavijo said the operation at Peñarol’s Campeón del Siglo stadium unfolded according to plan. He acknowledged that high-risk operations bring unexpected situations, arguing that police effectiveness does not always mean preventing every incident. It can also mean moderating events and protecting people when problems occur.
Anyone who thinks they are stronger than us is mistaken.
He said some supporters had planned to disrupt public order. Their preparation included sealing off a room in the Cataldi stand and turning it into a hidden space for flags and pyrotechnics, which are banned in stadiums. Supporters reached the room after the match by breaking through sections of a wall.
We cannot start breaking every wall to see whether there is something behind it.
Asked why police had not found the concealed room during the pre-match inspection, Clavijo replied: “We cannot start breaking every wall to see whether there is something behind it.” Investigators recovered traces that helped identify one person who remains at large, while other latent traces could lead to more suspects. One person has already been convicted, and three others remain in custody.
Clavijo also rejected the idea that violence in football or Uruguay is new, citing a 1958 clásico in which two people died in the Amsterdam stand at Centenario Stadium. He said police serve every neighborhood in Montevideo around the clock and that their presence will continue to increase.
The effectiveness of a police operation is sometimes not that nothing happens, but moderating and protecting people against what happens.
About this summary
Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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