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Paraguay vice president to quit after US alleges corruption

Published:Saturday | August 13, 2022 | 12:10 AM
FILE – Paraguay’s Vice President Hugo Velazquez smiles during “Te Deum” at the Cathedral in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 15, 2018. Velazquez has been included on a US list of politicians considered to be corrupt, according to US ambassador to Paragua
AP
FILE – Paraguay’s Vice President Hugo Velazquez smiles during “Te Deum” at the Cathedral in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 15, 2018. Velazquez has been included on a US list of politicians considered to be corrupt, according to US ambassador to Paraguay Marc Osfield during a press conference in Asuncion on August 12, 2022.

BUENOS AIRES (AP):

Paraguay Vice President Hugo Velázquez Moreno said on Friday he will resign next week shortly after he was included on a US corruption list for his alleged involvement in offering bribes to a public official.

The inclusion of Velázquez on the corruption list, announced by US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield on Friday morning, rocked Paraguay’s political world not only due to Moreno’s role in President Mario Abdo Benítez’s administration, but also because he is seen as a leading contender to become a presidential candidate for the Colorado Party in next year’s elections.

Minutes after Ostfield spoke at a news conference at the US embassy in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, Velázquez expressed his innocence but said he would drop his presidential candidacy and would present his resignation to Congress next week so he could defend himself against the allegations.

“It really hit me like a bucket of cold water,” Velázquez said during an interview with a local radio station. “I don’t know what he’s referring to because he didn’t give too many details.”

Juan Carlos Duarte, a former prosecutor who is a close personal and business associate of Moreno, was also included on the corruption list, Ostfield said.

Ostfield said Secretary of State Antony Blinken “received credible information” that showed how “at the request of Vice President Velázquez, Duarte, his close personal and professional partner, offered a bribe of more than $1 million to a public official”.

This offering of a bribe was “consistent with an apparent pattern of corrupt activity” and in this case it was carried out to “obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president and his financial interests,” Ostfield said.

As a result of the designations, Velázquez, Duarte and their immediate family members will no longer be allowed to enter the United States.

Velázquez said he is “completely and totally” in the dark about the allegations detailed by Ostfield.

Paraguay’s vice president said he would resign because he wants to “go out like a common citizen to defend what I think is an injustice”.

President Benítez said the US allegations “surprised us all” but congratulated Velázquez for his quick decision to drop out of the presidential race and announce he would be stepping down as vice president.

The designation comes mere weeks after a former president of Paraguay, Horacio Manuel Cartes, was also included on a US corruption list for his “involvement in significant corruption”. Cartes served as president of Paraguay between August 2013 and August 2018.