On Friday, August 12, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, announced the designation of Hugo Velázquez Moreno, Vice President of the Republic, as significantly corrupt. This, after verifying an offer of bribery made to a public official to prevent the advancement of an investigation against him.
A few minutes after the appointment, the vice president announced to radio stations his resignation from the candidacy for the presidency of the Republic. And, he also announced that in the next few days he was going to submit his resignation to the vice presidency. However, on the latter he retracted on Thursday. He announced that he will not resign until he has the details of the causes for which he is accused. For example, the name of the official who was bribed and details about the investigation that, in theory, he tried to stop.
Pilar Abente, a master’s in political action, affirmed that the designation of Velázquez as a “significantly corrupt” person did not attract her attention. Regarding his inconsistent attitude that he was going to resign from the vice presidency but then change his mind, she warned that he also harms the presidential candidate who replaced him since he leaves the movement in a bad light. “The president and vice president of his movement affirm that Velázquez resigned to leave his companions well. I hope that he fulfills his initial word for the good of Paraguay”, he pointed out.
When asked about how the country’s image is affected by this situation, she pointed out that these accusations from the United States are not only a personal issue, but also affect the country since Velázquez is holding one of the most important positions. “He is one of the highest authorities of the three powers of the State. It doesn’t just affect him, his movement or his party, but it affects the entire country. It is unacceptable both inside and outside the country, that we have a sitting vice president found to be significantly corrupt,” she noted.
PERIS
Carlos Peris, a sociologist, affirms that something unique is taking place in the history of Paraguay. In the sense that a polarization of society is taking place, after the declaration of the United States. “A foreign actor is moving the chips, affecting the entire Paraguayan political scene,” he said.
He said that Velázquez is in a very competitive electoral game, where there is a strong tendency for another country to touch the political board. It seems normal to her that he said that he was going to give up everything and then thought it through and declined his intentions. “Velázquez has every right not to resign because if we talk about what Paraguay is, as a sovereign country, he does not have any open investigation here,” he explained.
He finally said that the image of the country is discredited, but it is not something new. He recalled that during the 90’s and the first years of the new millennium, Paraguay already appeared in the first places of the most corrupt countries in the world. “Paraguay has been dragging a deplorable image of corruption, drug trafficking and insecurity, lack of opportunities and inequality that excludes its population. This statement further accentuates the deplorable image of the country that we have because the accusations materialize in people,” he concluded.
