Union corruption: Jorge Bermúdez looted FUS

The trade unionist from the Communist Party  Jorge "Fogata" Bermúdez held the position of general secretary of the FUS (Uruguayan Health Federation) from 1998 until September 2024, when he announced his departure during the union's congress.

Subsequently, he took over as Secretary of Training for the organization. Under his management, FUS squandered millions of pesos from union members, mainly nurses and administrative staff of the mutual societies, on personal luxuries.

The Central Council of FUS demanded that the communist Bermúdez and the former Secretary of Finance, Héctor Dos Santos, return within three days employer contributions (US$26 per month per non-medical worker) deposited in personal accounts.

Jorge Bermúdez had a balance of approximately 180,000 dollars (about 7.5 million Uruguayan pesos) in a Scotiabank account, which he closed and transferred to FUS on August 1, 2025.

He did not do it out of personal honesty; he did it because the issue became public in the press, and in order not to increase the scandal he decided to return the money he had appropriated. 

The audit

The new leadership of FUS commissioned an external audit of the last five years, revealing expenses linked to Bermúdez of more than one million Uruguayan pesos in per diems (613,627 dollars without receipts), car services (457,799 dollars with the company Senderos Group).

There are other items such as trips to resorts abroad, and a luxurious high-end BMW with a driver.

Serious irregularities

The audit reveals irregularities during the years that the communist Bermúdez led FUS.

The irregularities amount to more than 2.6 million Uruguayan pesos (57,000 dollars) in 15 months. The audit is still ongoing. 

In total, there is a preliminary shortfall of more than one million pesos in unjustified expenses just in per diems and car services; the expanded audit could increase this amount.

Corrupt communist unionism

The Communist Party has always used unions to siphon workers' money. Employees pay their union dues monthly, which are managed almost secretly by union bureaucrats, and they spend them as they please. 

The Communist Party uses the money of affiliated workers for spurious purposes, far removed from the interests of employees.

It is worth recalling that Sunca, also led by the Communist Party, the current senator of that Party Oscar Andrade, was for many years the main leader of Sunca.

He is currently under investigation for extremely serious cases of mega corruption where the construction union was looted for more than 1,200,000 dollars, according to the prosecutor in the case, Gilberto Rodríguez.

Now, the communist trade unionist Jorge Bermúdez is also being exposed.

Bermúdez looted the private health union and filled himself with personal privileges using the money of the members.

Meanwhile, there are private health workers who can't make ends meet and endure hardships.