The U.S. Government announced Thursday sanctions against the Vice President of Paraguay, Hugo Velázquez, and former President Horacio Cartes, in a measure that involves the blocking of all assets and properties they may have under U.S. sovereignty and that once again calls into question the political leadership of the South American country.
Both leaders had already been catalogued in 2022 as «significantly corrupt», although these accusations have not prevented Velázquez from remaining Mario Abdo Benítez’s «number two».
In the case of Velázquez, he has been in Washington’s crosshairs for months, accused of «interfering in legal proceedings» and of maneuvering to protect himself from potential investigations, giving rise to bribes or threats «to those who could expose his criminal activity», according to the US Treasury.
The US government believes that, for its part, Cartes engaged in corrupt activities «before, during and after» his term in office (2013-2018). «The political career started and continues to rely on corrupt means,» the Treasury Department has said bluntly, which accounts for bribes of up to $ 10,000 to achieve his nomination as presidential candidate of the Colorado Party.
In 2017, he allocated $1 million of his fortune to «buy» the votes of deputies and attempt a constitutional reform that would open the door to a second term. Failed this reform, and already out of the Presidency, he would have tried to maintain his influence with continued payments that in some cases reach $50,000 per month.
In addition, the Administration of Joe Biden links both Cartes and Velázquez with a company, Hizbollah, responsible for organizing events during which corrupt practices are allegedly carried out and which, in the eyes of the United States, is a «terrorist organization».
The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, has affirmed that, with Thursday’s measures, Washington intends to penalize «the endemic corruption that undermines Paraguayan democratic institutions», with a view also for the Government to take measures thinking about the interests of the citizens and not «in the pockets of the political elites».
In this line, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has assured that «the United States is with the people of Paraguay» and will continue to support its «partners» in the local institutions to «fight corruption and defend the rule of law».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
