Friends of power would go unpunished in scandalous cases of corruption. The President of the Republic is looking for a tailored Prosecutor’s Office to remain calm after leaving power. Carlos Arregui, who confirmed his nomination for the position, is one of the president’s chosen ones for the money laundering operation in the Public Ministry.
By Jorge Torres Romero and Cinthia Mora
Endless emblematic cases of corruption of the current state administration could come to nothing having a designated in the State Attorney General’s Office “to measure”.
The person who is designated as State Attorney General will be born with his hands tied, at the mercy of the ruling party, being one of thedirect imposition of the President of the Republic, Mario Abdo Benítez. With this definition in the Public Ministry, numerous cases of corruption that were committed in recent years could go to opareí.
There were several surrendering acts committed by the Government of Mario Abdo Benítez, the most scandalous being the secret Itaipu agreement signed in May 2019, that contemplated that Paraguay should buy more safe energy, at a higher cost, committing the acquisition of surpluses at a lower cost.
Another submissive agreement was that of Petropar and the firm Texos Oil, which implied the payment of 7 million dollars in favor of the Argentine company. In this case, Sergio Coscia, Denis Lichi and Juan Ernesto Villamayor appeared as the figures behind the pact, but only the first was removed from office.
Another sellout agreement was between Petropar and the firm Texos Oil.
During the pandemic, notorious acts of corruption were recorded: such as that of the gold face mask acquired by DINAC, the “anticovid” tonic water bottles bought by Petropar during the management of Patricia Samudio, the mega-scandalous purchase of Chinese health supplies to the Ferreira clan, the failed purchase of vaccines with the Covax mechanism, the delay in immunization of the population that could save thousands of lives if done in time, the use of the 1,600 million dollars at the discretion by the Executive in the framework of the fight against the pandemic, among others.
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Other emblematic cases of corruption occurred in the IPS (with targeted bidding, non-compliance with contracts for cleaning their headquarters, lack of medicines, and medical negligence), in the INDERT (with bribes for land regularization), in the MOPC (with the questionable catwalk of Ñanduti, the overinvoicing and the VIPS consultant contracts in the administration of Arnoldo Wiens).
Another important figure in the presidential environment who would have been implicated in corruption cases is Juan Ernesto Villamayor.
Before him record shipment of cocaine abroad during the current administration, one cannot fail to cite the drug ties of the Government of Marito, with Arnaldo Giuzzio at the head, followed by the current presidential candidate Arnoldo Wiens. Both politicians were linked to the alleged drug trafficker arrested in Brazil, Marcus Vinicius Espindola Marques de Padua, and were also involved in a “dark” meeting with drug trafficker Ezequiel de Souza.
Another important figure in the presidential environment who would have been implicated in corruption cases is Juan Ernest Villamayor like the international scandal of PDVSA for an attempt to settle the debt with Paraguay; the request of his former secretaries for a bribe of USD 2 million to prevent Darío Messer from being extradited to Brazil; and the cancellation of the visa by order of the United States.
The drug ties of Marito’s government, with Arnaldo Giuzzio at the head, cannot be left unmentioned.
Also, the former Minister of Urban Planning, Danny Duran, He prevented the opening and transparent management of the National Housing Fund (Fonavis) and even went so far as to urge the deputies who intended to modify that fund to escrachar.
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The most recent cases of the Government were the reduction of the Itaipu rate to benefit Brazil, and the sale of cheaper fuel to Bolivians, leaving Paraguayan citizens aside.
The president of Copaco, Sante Vallese, together with Diego von Stauffenberg, official spokesperson for Rivada Networks, the firm that proposed the Vox spectrum leasing operation.
This week jumped another surrender agreement related to the VOX-Copaco spectrum leasing in favor of a foreign company worth US$ 10 million for 20 years. This deal was secretly handled and violates telecommunications law.
There are no guarantees that these emblematic acts of corruption, just to name a few, will be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office in March of next year when the new authority related to President Mario Abdo Benítez takes office.
