🚙Military and defence· 2025-2026
89 military vehicles worth US$9 million that could not be driven
The Army bought 84 off-roaders and 5 ambulances in 2025; they were held at the border because their engines breached the 2021 air-quality decree.
Figure published by the sources
más de US$ 9 millones a valores de 2024 por 84 todoterrenos y 5 ambulancias
Bodies involved
Ministerio de Defensa Nacional · Ejército Nacional
What it is
In February 2025 the National Army issued a public tender to renew its light tactical vehicle fleet. It awarded 89 units of the Brazilian Agrale Marruá — 84 off-road vehicles and five tactical ambulances — for more than US$9 million at 2024 values, according to El Observador. The purchase resolution was signed by then Defence Minister Armando Castaingdebat and then President Luis Lacalle Pou. According to El Eco Digital, the winner was LUTRUCKS S.A.S., which took the tender after China's NORINCO was rejected for failing technical requirements. Infodefensa noted the purchase filled a gap: the Army had auctioned off its Land Rover Defenders and was left with no serviceable light tactical vehicles.
What is questioned
The vehicles arrived and could not be used. According to El Observador, they were held at a border customs post — the case was first reported by TV Ciudad — because they breach the May 2021 air-quality decree, which provides no exception for military vehicles; the paper cited article 44 of that rule, which does allow exceptions for temporary imports, while Caras y Caretas cited article 41 of Decree 135/021. Infodefensa specified that the Marruá's emissions are EURO3, below the required minimum. León Lev, chair of the Frente Amplio's Defence Committee, reported that the Ministry of Industry had already type-approved them and only environmental clearance was missing. The way out was regulatory: Environment Minister Edgardo Ortuño signed a decree adding "tactical vehicles for military use" to the exceptions, on condition that they be stripped of their engines once withdrawn from military use, according to Caras y Caretas.
Why it matters to you
More than US$9 million of public money sat idle for over a year because of a clash between two of the State's own rules: a military tender's specifications and an environmental decree nobody cross-checked before awarding. There is no allegation of wrongdoing here; what the case shows is the concrete cost of buying without verifying that what is bought can actually be used.
Where it stands
The exception decree was reported by Infodefensa on 2 June 2026 and by Caras y Caretas, clearing the 89 vehicles to circulate; Caras y Caretas also noted that some units had already taken part in the 18 May military parade, and that the measure pre-empted a bill by Senator Javier García (Partido Nacional) proposing to authorise them for border patrols. As this file closes (August 2026) no developments after June 2026 are on record.
We could not isolate a defensible set of contracts
This spending does travel through public procurement, but we found no filter that separates this file's contracts from everything else those bodies buy. Rather than show a total that mixes the questioned spending with what nobody disputes, we show none. You can explore the body's contracts yourself from the explorer.
This is an ordinary public tender by the National Army, so the call and the award should appear in the public-procurement feed. What the feed does not show is the customs hold or the time the vehicles spent unusable.
Explore contracts in the explorer