USA puts name and surname to a story that was already known
It is no small thing to be accused of undermining the stability of democratic institutions. Nor is it minor that they attribute to him having contributed to the installation (sic) of the public perception of corruption and impunity within the office of the President of Paraguay.
These charges are included in the official communication from the United States Department of State in which former President Horacio Cartes is attributed his participation in “significant acts of corruption.”
Managed on a local scale, these events inevitably tend to lose all their intrinsic power. The informative routine, the machines for grinding truths and the related media end up turning them into mere anecdotes or, in any case, generating the worst of the worst, general indifference.
But suddenly, when no one expected it, a foreign embassy -the most “heavy” of all- gathers these facts, puts them in a row, categorizes them and assigns them a name and surname, formally presenting them in a statement with identifying letterhead and shield. The language, diplomatic as it may be, leaves no room for doubt: “This public appointment is being made pursuant to Section 7031-C of the Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act 2022. The Department is also appointing to the adult children of Cartes, Juan Pablo Cartes Montaña, Sofía Cartes Montaña and María Sol Cartes Montaña”. End of quote.
To put it mildly, money laundering is not very well seen in US law. But the issue thickens for the former president in this scathing observation: “These actions enabled and perpetuated Cartes’ recently documented involvement in foreign terrorist organizations and other entities designated by the United States, undermining the security of the United States against the transnational crime and terrorism and threatens regional stability. This is serious. Participating in terrorism is a major issue in the US It is, without fear of exaggeration, almost the cover of a file that could soon be opened in US justice.
And allow us a closing reflection: we were never wrong to speak of the former president’s “open-air laundry.”
It was hardly the anticipatory title of an evident truth.
