US accuses prime Paraguay politicians of corruption, spurring probe | Corruption Information

Paraguay’s ex-president and present vp are below investigation for alleged corruption, prices they deny.

Paraguay’s legal professional common has launched a prison investigation on Thursday into allegations by the US that its former president and the present vp had been concerned in corruption and had ties to a terrorist group.

Paraguay’s Legal professional Common Emiliano Rolón Fernández stated a crew would look into the allegations that former President Horacio Cartes and Vice President Hugo Velázquez engaged “in systemic corruption that has undermined democratic establishments in Paraguay”.

Cartes and Velázquez have beforehand denied the allegations.

The US authorities, in the meantime, added three individuals to an inventory of Paraguayan officers it suspects of “vital corruption” and who could be barred from entry into its nation, together with their members of the family. That listing, began in 2019, now numbers 9 officers.

In January, the US issued explosive allegations that Cartes and Velázquez had ties to the group Hezbollah, which Washington has designated a “terrorist” group.

The US has lengthy stated the porous tri-border area that connects Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is a hub for financing “terrorism”, by way of cash laundering and illicit exercise. The US has recognized what it has described as members of Hezbollah who use entrance corporations within the area to finance violence within the Center East.

The US authorities additionally accused Cartes, who it has described as one among Paraguay’s wealthiest males, of widespread bribery of presidency officers and lawmakers.

The most recent officers added to the corruption listing had been court docket clerk Vicente Ferreira and Edgar Melgarejo — the previous director of the Paraguayan Civil Aviation Authority — in addition to Jorge Bogarín, a member of a panel that disciplines judges and prosecutors.

The designations got here after the State Division “acquired credible data” that Melgarejo “misappropriated public funds for private acquire throughout his tenure”, in accordance with US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield.

He additionally stated that there was proof Bogarín and Ferreira “interfered in judicial proceedings for their very own private profit”.

“Acts of corruption like these undermine the establishments, processes, and folks’s religion within the capability of the Paraguayan authorities to serve its individuals,” Ostfield stated on Thursday.

Melgarejo instructed native media he was “shocked” by the designation and stated he was unaware of the explanations behind his inclusion on the US corruption listing.

The investigation by Paraguay’s chief prosecutor additionally will look into claims of corruption involving Juan Carlos Duarte, authorized adviser for the entity that runs the bi-national Yacyretá Dam that’s collectively owned by Paraguay and Argentina.