vice president says he renounces presidential candidacy and will resign

Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velázquez said Friday that he will renounce his presidential candidacy and resign from his post next week, after being singled out by the United States for significant acts of corruption.

“To take care of the movement (…) it is my obligation to step aside,” Velázquez told the Monumental radio station in the Paraguayan capital. He added that he will submit his resignation as vice president next week to leave the office “in order.”

The United States singled out Velázquez for his involvement in significant acts of corruption, accusing him on Friday of having offered a bribe of more than a million dollars to a public official “to obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president and his financial interests.”

He also targeted Juan Carlos Duarte for acts of corruption, who currently occupies the legal office of the Yacyretá binational hydroelectric plant.

The announcement was made by the United States ambassador in Asunción, Marc Ostfield, at a press conference in the diplomatic delegation, at the same time that the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, issued a statement in Washington.

Ostfield said the offer of more than $1 million to a public official “was made to obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president and his financial interests.”

Velázquez, who was a prosecutor for years in the Triple Border area between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, is a candidate for the presidency in the internal elections of the ruling Colorado Party that will take place at the end of December, representing the movement of President Mario Abdo .

The United States had already pointed Former Paraguayan President Horacio Carteswho ruled the country from 2013 to 2018, for obstructing “a major international investigation into transnational crime to protect himself and his criminal associate from possible prosecution and political harm.”

“All designations from the United States have a rigorous review process … of many months. For us, our priority as an embassy is to do everything possible to combat corruption and impunity and we are going to use all the elements that we have available,” Ostfield added.

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