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Hugo Velázquez, the second in command of the South American nation, was singled out by the United States for alleged “significant acts of corruption.” The official initially replied that he would withdraw from his position and his presidential candidacy. But now, he maintains that he will continue his functions, since there is no known formal complaint against him.
Velázquez took a step back by retracting the decision he made last week. The Vice President of Paraguay stated at the time that he was stepping down from his post after being accused by the United States of allegedly committing acts of corruption.
But now, the formula of the president Mario Abdo Benítez announced that he will request evidence from the corresponding organizations of the accusations that are linked to him and that he has not yet left his position, since there are no formal complaints against him, as he explained to local radio ABC Color.
“I have decided not to resign from the Vice Presidency of the Republic because, like any Paraguayan citizen, I am protected by the constitutional right to due process and fundamentally the presumption of innocence,” he said.
Specifically, the United States included him on its Engel list for alleged corruption. Washington accuses him of bribing a public official through his close collaborator Juan Carlos Duarte, who was also a legal adviser to the Yacyretá binational entity (EBY). According to the US ambassador in Asunción, Marc Ostfield, Duarte, at the request of Vice President Velázquez, “offered a bribe of more than one million dollars” to a public official, with the alleged intention of “obstructing an investigation that threatened the Vice President and his financial interests”.
But this Thursday, the vice president assured that he did not have an open case from the Public Ministry of his country and that he will request “concrete data” from the diplomatic representation in Washington. “I will even resort to US judicial authorities to clear my name and that of my family,” the official said.
“The only thing I want to see first is the real complaint. If there is such a complaint, in what state is it,” insisted the official, who admitted that he feared that he could be the victim of a “setup.”
Goodbye to the presidential candidacy
Hugo Velázquez was the main card of the Colorado Party to aspire to the Presidency of the nation, until August 12, when he announced that he would withdraw due to accusations from the United States. And this Thursday, he ratified his decision to abandon the race for the candidacy.
In this sense, the president of the Senate described this step as a personal position, although he has not received a formal letter making the step aside official.
The presidential vacancy was filled by Arnoldo Wiens, former Minister of Public Works and Communications. However, in the corridors of the Senate, the members of the vice president’s political group affirm that the resignation of the candidacy “is on hold.”
The United States ambassador “cannot decide the political and institutional life of the country in a press conference,” said official senator Lilian Samaniego, who criticized that for the level of the complaint that was made, it is necessary to have “elements” and “real evidence”. On his part, another member of the party called for a political trial, while the opposition demands his resignation.
with EFE
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