Paraguay opens criminal case against former president and current vice president

Paraguay’s attorney general opened a criminal case Thursday against a former president and the current vice president over US allegations that they were involved in acts of corruption and had ties to a terrorist group.

Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández said a task force will examine US allegations that former President Horacio Cartes and current Vice President Hugo Velázquez “undermined the stability of Paraguay’s democratic institutions” due to “their involvement in significant corruption.” ”.

Cartes and Velázquez have previously denied the accusations.

On the other hand, the US government included three people on a list of officials involved in “corruption acts” and prohibited them from entering the US along with members of their immediate families. The list, started in 2019, now includes nine officials.

Washington made explosive allegations in January that Cartes and Velázquez had ties to the Middle Eastern extremist group Hezbollah, designated by the US as a terrorist organization.

The United States has long maintained that the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is a hub for terrorist financing by laundering money from illicit activities. It has also identified suspected Hezbollah members who use front companies in the region to finance terrorist activities in the Middle East.

The US government also accused Cartes, whom it describes as one of Paraguay’s wealthiest men, of widespread bribery of officials and lawmakers.

The officials included on the corruption list on Thursday were the former head of the National Directorate of Civil Aeronautics Edgar Melgarejo; Jorge Bogarín, a member of a panel that disciplines judges and prosecutors, and the judicial secretary Vicente Ferreira.

The appointments came after the State Department received credible information that Melgarejo embezzled public funds for personal gain during his tenure and that Bogarían and Ferreira interfered in legal proceedings for their personal gain.

“Acts of corruption such as these contribute to diminishing trust in the government and the public perception of corruption and impunity within the office of the vice president of Paraguay,” US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield said Thursday.

Melgarejo told the local press that he was surprised by the appointment and indicated that he was unaware of the reasons why the United States included him on the list of those implicated in corruption.

Paraguay’s prosecutor will also examine in the investigation corruption allegations against Juan Carlos Duarte, legal adviser to the entity that runs the binational Yaciretá dam, jointly owned by Argentina and Paraguay.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.