A US accusation triggered a political crisis in Paraguay this Friday (12), culminating in a matter of hours in the resignation of Vice President Hugo Velázquez.
The US ambassador to the country, Marc Ostfield, announced that the politician had been designated by Washington as a “significantly corrupt” character. The US State Department accuses a former prosecutor linked to Velázquez of attempting to bribe an official with US$ 1 million (R$ 5.1 million) to stop an investigation.
Last month a similar designation had been made against former president Horacio Cartes. The current deputy is considered a trusted man by the powerful ex-mandatory.
Millionaire and owner of banks, tobacco factories and supermarket chains, Cartes leads a wing of the Colorado Party that opposes that of Mario Abdo Benítez. The current president, however, owes favors to his predecessor, since he had a recent impeachment process halted due to a seam of congressmen linked to Cartes.
The former president (2013-2018) was also the subject of an arrest warrant in Brazil, for alleged involvement in cases investigated in Operation Lava Jato. In November 2019, however, the Superior Court of Justice overturned the order and granted him a habeas corpus.
Cartes’ name had appeared in the denunciation of money changer Darío Messer, who was on the run in Paraguay and was arrested in São Paulo, amid investigations into an alleged international money laundering scheme.
The crisis now installed due to the accusation against Velázquez and his resignation can still have a series of unfoldings. The politician was a pre-candidate of the Cartes wing for the 2023 presidential election. Already this Friday, upon hearing the news from Washington, he announced that he would withdraw from the race and leave the Vice Presidency.
The Congress, with a Chartist majority, is due to meet next Tuesday (16) to appoint his successor – who does not necessarily need to be a parliamentarian.
Ostfield’s statements were given at a press conference, in which other names that the State Department included as members of the corrupt list were also mentioned. Among them is former prosecutor Juan Carlos Duarte, also a friend of Cartes, accused of having offered the bribe to obstruct investigations against Velázquez.
“[O vice-presidente] is responsible for significant acts of corruption, such as offering a bribe to a public official and interfering in court proceedings,” he said. in statements to the Justice on account of corruption cases.”
According to the ambassador, the designations were sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
On the 22nd, the former president Cartes himself had been accused of corruption by the US, which also imposed sanctions on the former president, including banning him and his sons Sofia, Juan Pablo and María Sol from entering the country.
Ostfield said the State Department’s release of a list of corrupt politicians is a way to “promote the accountability of government officials involved in corruption cases.” He added: “It is also supportive of any effort to stop and discourage future abuses and fight impunity.”
He said the US will continue to use “all available tools to fight corruption and organized crime, regardless of political affiliation, wealth and personal connections.”
