Washington sanctions former Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes after pointing him out for corruption

First modification: 07/22/2022 – 22:59

The US Department of State accused former Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes Jara of having participated “in important acts of corruption,” according to the US ambassador to the South American country, Marc Ostfield.

The news was announced this Friday by the representative of Washington in Asunción, capital of the South American nation, and through a note on the official website of the US State Department.

According to this organization, “former President Cartes (2013-2018) obstructed an important international investigation into transnational crime to protect himself and his criminal associate from possible prosecution and political harm.”

The note also ensures that the actions for which the former president is accused would have undermined “the stability of Paraguay’s democratic institutions by contributing to the public perception of corruption and impunity within the office” of the former president.

US denounces ‘documented involvement with terrorist organizations’

In what represents one of the most serious allegations, the State Department maintains that “these actions enabled and perpetuated Cartes’ recently documented involvement with foreign terrorist organizations and other entities designated by the United States, thereby undermining the security of the United States.” against transnational crime and terrorism and threatens regional stability.

Three of the sons of the former head of state were also charged with a similar sanction.

For his part, the United States ambassador said that the appointment “reaffirms the US commitment to combat corruption and impunity that undermine the faith of the Paraguayan people in its democratic institutions” and warned that “this will not be the last to be announced.

A “unilateral decision” that lacks “legal effect”

By echoing the news, some Paraguayan media did not ignore the way in which the North American country made the accusations against Cartes.

One of them reproduced the words of lawyer Ricardo Preda, in which he stressed that the determination against the former president is “merely political” and that it is not based on evidence, so “it has no legal effect.”

“The Department of State is the political area of ​​the United States, unlike the Department of Justice, which is obviously the legal wing. If we had been faced with the hypothesis of a judicial process there that has led to the conclusion that punishable acts have been committed, the announcement would not have been made here, “said Preda.

The lawyer made it clear that this matter does not represent any impediment in the political sphere or of any other nature for Cartes.

“Paraguay is a sovereign country and if there is any type of investigation, you can only fight with evidence,” concluded Preda.

Complaints against former president Horacio Cartes

At the beginning of the year, the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money or Asset Laundering (Seprelad) received an accusation against Cartes for “money laundering, illicit enrichment and false declaration”, formulated by the then Minister of the Interior, Arnaldo Giuzzio.

According to Giuzzio, he perceived “the existence of a set of facts and situations that could constitute indications of the commission of punishable acts of money laundering from smuggling and illicit enrichment in public office and other related crimes.”

The complaint was made in a personal capacity and not as head of the Interior portfolio.

‘Tabesa’, the former president’s company, is also being targeted for sending a shipment to Aruba on a Venezuelan-Iranian-owned plane, investigated for alleged international terrorism. The firm denied any link with the aircraft.