Paraguay vice president blacklisted by U.S. for corruption to resign
By Samantha Schmidt
Updated August 12, 2022 at 4:24 p.m. EDT|Published August 12, 2022 at 4:22 p.m. EDT
Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benítez and Vice President Hugo Velazquez are pictured at the National Congress in Asuncion in November 2018, when they presented bills aimed at fighting money laundering, terrorism and organized crime. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)
Paraguay’s vice president, a candidate in the country’s presidential elections next year, announced his resignation on Friday after U.S. officials blacklisted him for alleged “significant acts of corruption.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Friday morning that the United States had included Vice President Hugo Adalberto Velázquez Moreno on a corruption list for his alleged role in, among other things, offering a bribe to a public official and interfering in public proceedings. The U.S. government also included on the list Juan Carlos “Charly” Duarte Martínez, a close associate of the vice president.
At Velázquez’s request, Duarte allegedly offered a bribe of more than $1 million to a public official to obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president’s financial interests, Marc Ostfield, U.S. ambassador to Paraguay, said in a news conference Friday. Ostfield described it as “an act consistent with an apparent pattern of shared corrupt activity.”
The designations mean that Velázquez, Duarte and their immediate family members are barred from entering the United States.
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/12/hugo-velazquez-paraguay-corruption-vice-president/
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Paraguay's vice president resigns amid corruption allegations
Hugo Velazquez announces resignation ahead of 2023 presidential election
Bala Chambers |
13.08.2022
Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velazquez announced Friday that he will resign following corruption allegations made by the US.
Velazquez had been hoping to stand for elections during next year's presidential election for the ruling Colorado Party until he was sanctioned.
"The decision to step aside is to avoid affecting the environment of the President of the Republic (Mario Abdo Benítez) or the Colorado Party," Velazquez told a local radio station. "I'm going to retire from politics. It was the last stage of my career," he added.
US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield said at a news conference Friday that Velazquez was placed on a corruption list for allegedly offering bribes to a public official and intervening in public processes.
He has refuted the allegations, insisting he was innocent and did not know what Ostfield was talking about.
More:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/paraguays-vice-president-resigns-amid-corruption-allegations/2660274