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Cartes and Velázquez have beforehand denied the allegations.
The U.S. authorities, in the meantime, added three folks to a listing of Paraguayan officers it suspects of “vital corruption” and who could be barred from entry into the U.S. together with their relations. That record, began in 2019, now numbers 9 officers.
The U.S. in January issued explosive allegations that Cartes and Velázquez had ties to the Mideastern militant group Hezbollah, which Washington has designated a terrorist group.
The U.S. has lengthy mentioned the porous tri-border area that connects Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is a hub for terrorism financing by way of cash laundering of illicit exercise. The U.S. has recognized what it has described as members of Hezbollah who use entrance corporations within the area to finance terror actions within the Center East.
The U.S. authorities additionally accused Cartes, who it has described as one in all Paraguay’s wealthiest males, of widespread bribery of presidency officers and lawmakers.
The newest officers added to the corruption record have been the previous director of the Paraguayan Civil Aviation Authority, Edgar Melgarejo in addition to Jorge Bogarín, a member of a panel that disciplines judges and proseuctors, and Vicente Ferreira, a court docket clerk.
The designations got here after the State Division “obtained credible data” that Melgarejo “misappropriated public funds for private achieve throughout his tenure” and that Bogarín and Ferreira “interfered in judicial proceedings for their very own private profit,” U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield mentioned Thursday.
“Acts of corruption like these undermine the establishments, processes, and folks’s religion within the potential of the Paraguayan authorities to serve its folks,” Ostfield mentioned.
Melgarejo advised native media he was “shocked” by the designation and mentioned he was unaware of the explanations behind his inclusion within the U.S. corruption record.
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.
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