USA: Sanctions against Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velazquez and former President Horacio Cartes

The US government announced Thursday that it has imposed sanctions against the current vice president of Paraguay and the former president of the Latin American country, whom it accuses of being involved in corruption cases.

Vice President Hugo Velázquez and former President Horacio Cartes (2013-2018) face sanctions for their “involvement in systematic corruption that undermined democratic institutions in Paraguay,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a press release released by his office. .

“Governments must give their people a voice and not be manipulated to benefit a corrupt political elite,” Mr Blinken tweeted.

Any assets of the two men under the jurisdiction of US authorities will be frozen and Americans will be prohibited from having any financial dealings with them.

According to the US government, Mr. Cartes is involved in various corruption cases that unfolded before, during and after he became president.

“For more than a decade,” Horacio Cartes used “his ill-gotten wealth and influence to expand his political and economic power” in defiance of “Paraguayan institutions.”

Besides, Hugo Velasquez is accused of “illegal exercise of influence in return” and “bribes”. While serving as vice president, Mr. Velasquez “interfered” in legal proceedings “to protect himself and his accomplices from investigations” by the judiciary and “threatened” people who “could expose his illegal activity”, according to US Secretary of State

At the same time, the American Ministry of Finance argued that Mr. Cartes and Velazquez had “ties” to the Shiite movement Hezbollah of Lebanon, which Washington characterizes as a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah held “regular events in Paraguay where politicians cut favor deals, sold government contracts and discussed law enforcement operations against bribes,” according to its own press release. “Representatives of both Kartes and Velasquez received bribes at these meetings” on their behalf, according to the same source. Sanctions were imposed on four legal entities owned by Mr Kartes or believed to be controlled by the right-wing former president.

Media in Paraguay are reporting that both Mr. Velazquez and Mr. Cartes reject Washington’s accusations against them. Mr. Velasquez told a radio station that what the US government is complaining about is “fabricated”.

Mr. Cartes had already denied the charges against him in July 2022, when the US imposed an entry ban on him.

The sanctions against Colorado’s two governing party politicians ratchet up the pressure, just three months before the April presidential election. The candidate of the ruling party, Santiago Peña, will compete in these elections with Efren Alegre, candidate of the center-left alliance.

The case, which caused a political earthquake in Paraguay, forced Mr. Velasquez, who had intended to be Colorado’s candidate in this year’s election, to withdraw from the race.

RES-EMP

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