Who is the powerful Emir of Qatar who arrived in Punta del Este with two ships worth 300 million euros?

PUNTA DEL ESTE.- Without its characteristic dress, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani It may have gone unnoticed among the thousands of tourists to the East. However the Emir of Qatar Her visit to a Uruguayan spa caught all eyesHe was there last weekend to receive 2023 and lead private meetings.

From the hands of a former tennis player turned businessman Gaston Gadio, Aamir arrived in a completely confidential environment. “One of the values ​​that our government offers is privacy in Uruguay,” said a senior official in the government of Louis Lacal Bouvin when asked about the Qatari leader.

Tamim’s arrival coincided with the appearance of two mega-ships at the port of Punta del Este, attracting the attention of locals and tourists alike. It’s all about boats Alpha Y AquariusThe two ships – together – are worth more than $300 million.

As far as he could tell Nation, the Emir of Qatar uses one of the yachts for his personal use and the other for his officials and security team. All movements of the leader are kept under surgical and strict security measures.

Yesterday, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was having lunch at the icon Parador La HuellaBy Jose Ignacio. There he arrived with his Argentinian friend Gaudio. Aamir is expected to continue his Latin American tour with a trip to Brazil in the coming days.

Millions of people around the world saw Tamim’s image at the last World Cup final in Qatar. Lionel Messi was donned a black cap (“pisht”) and was later presented with the World Cup by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

But how did Tamim become one of the richest people in the world? Half a century ago, the Al Thani family lived in a two-story house near the sea, with only sand on the beach, boats and a few prospectors who survived the pearl crisis.

First, oil and gas were close in time, which put this small emirate in a power struggle with its powerful neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

Tamim bin Hamad, but also in his predecessor, his father Hamad bin Khalifa, explains why they have invested more than 200 billion dollars in recent years. The World Cup is just a stepping stone to get himself into the international fold.

In 1995, Hamad bin Khalifa was deposed A non-violent blow His father, who until then had ruled the fate of the family and the country, kept a low-key policy of non-interference, something favored by the Saudis. But soon Everything has changed on this peninsulaFifteen times smaller than Uruguay, where he spent his freshman year.

Qatar’s breakthrough came in the mid-1990s when it partnered with American and Japanese companies. World’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and exploit the reserves they have discovered offshore. The dollars began to flow into the billions Al Thani devised an ambitious expansion plan.

At the end of the last century, some symbols of the new country emerged, such as chains Al JazeeraThe foundation was laid for the airline Qatar Airways and the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund expanding its arms across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Managed by the royal family, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange, with stakes in automakers Volkswagen and Porsche. Bought smaller brands Companies like Harrods Stores, Tiffany Jewelers, Hollywood Miramax Studios, British Airways, Barclays Banks and Credit Suisse participate. It is estimated that more than $50 billion has been invested in the United Kingdom alone, where the current emir and a large part of the royal family originated.

It was in football that Al Thani expanded their horizons further. In 2005, Tamim founded Qatar Sport Investments. One of his first effects was to buy a club in crisis, in which he spent a billion dollars and where he currently plays. Leo Messi: Paris Saint-Germain. He also invested in Barcelona and dreams of taking his country to the Olympics.

Without a doubt, The changeable fact is to get the setup of the last World Cup won by Argentina in 2010.. It was a process marked by little transparency, with strong allegations of corruption that took the World Cup to the desert, in the same city and necessitated a change to the start date.

Despite fighting with confederations from countries like the US, Australia or Japan, Tamim kept going. Nothing will stop him from fulfilling the Qatar National Vision 2030, the new country’s goal.

Tamim maintains good relations with former President Mauricio MacriWhom did he visit in Buenos Aires in 2018? They signed agreements on the suppression of diplomatic visas and three memoranda on education, sports and production and employment. During the last World Cup, the former Argentina president had a different meeting.

After Argentina qualified for the World Cup finals, Macri received a call from the powerful Qatari royal family. Yasim was Amir’s elder brother and head of the Supreme CouncilThe organization that organized the World Cup.

The Prince of Qatar He organized a mini-tournament featuring the former Argentine president and several football legends. They played Gabriel BatistudaBrazilian Ronaldo and Dutch Patrick Kluivert Y Ronald de Boer, et al.

A fluid relationship between Macri and the royal family was created through the figure of the former Roland Garros champion Gaston Gadio, involved in various businesses related to Qatar. He facilitated the first meeting between Macri and Tamin on Qatari soil during the World Cup, before the national team’s match against Poland.

Gaudio Macri and Boca have their own relationship with the world. Qatar Airways, founded by the Qatari royal family in the 1990s and today one of the world’s largest, signed a $7 million annual major sponsor deal with the Argentine club in 2018. . Gaudio’s influence was decisive in signing the treaty, which was signed during Macri’s judicial administration. Daniel Angelisi.

After sharing an intense month in the Middle East that was crowned with a world title for Messi’s national team, Gaudio and Tamin met again this New Year under the Eastern Sun.

Although Tamim tried to appear in the eyes of the West as a moderate leader, He is also known for his lavish lifestyle. His family owns the most expensive residence in the United Kingdom, for which he paid US$150 million in central London; And they are estimated to own more property than the British royal family in the country’s capital.

Amir, 42, He has three wives. However, to present himself as a Western leader, he used to go on state tours with the first of them, Jawahar bint Hamad. During a recent visit to Spain, the two dressed without their traditional Arab clothes and were greeted with genuine respect: Tom announced that he would increase his energy investments to 4.7 billion US dollars. There is also the Qatari royal family Spend the summer in the warm waters of the Spanish Mediterranean. He usually shows himself off in Mallorca with a large entourage, luxury cars and a private jet. There they usually take one of the world’s most expensive luxury yachts worth over $200 million.

On this trip to the eastern shores, he stepped away from the traditional attire he wore during the World Cup in Doha and showed himself in shorts and a blue sweater.