Marc Ostfield, ambassador of the United States, met on Thursday with the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), Antonio Fretes, to talk about the need for an independent justice, as can be read in the post made on social networks .
It met “to emphasize the importance of an independent Judiciary in the fight against corruption and impunity,” reads part of the publication.
The same post adds what follows; “The United States is proud of the robust program that it develops in support of Paraguay in its efforts for equitable and independent justice that serves all the Paraguayan people.”
BENITEZ
Víctor Raúl Benítez, an economist, business analyst and director of the Planner Capital investment company, said that with this one reads between the lines that the embassy handles intelligence information that the Judiciary is not really independent.
“He told him ‘I know everything, be good, I can do something’. There is always ambivalence on the part of the embassy, since Salazar’s last meeting was to ask Abdo not to push for impeachment and to be expected to show good work,” he said.
He said that the ambassador is very serious about this, and that the embassy with this alleges that it has information about “big fish” that will be released if the Judiciary does not act.
“These Americans never speak without having information from their intelligence system. Inside the embassy there must be systems to intercept calls, systems to decode planes leaving or entering. Also equipment to take satellite photos that show the amount of tobacco that comes out of Lake Itaipu, among other things, ”he concluded.
BACKGROUND
There is a special interest of the United States in the Paraguayan Justice. There are several antecedents.
On February 9, Joseph “Joe” Salazar, charge d’affaires of the United States Embassy, held a two-hour meeting with Abdo Benítez, President of the Republic.
Coincidentally, this meeting took place when there was strong talk of a possible dismissal of Sandra Quiñónez, Attorney General of the State for inaction in complaints that weigh on Horacio Cartes, former president of the Republic. The rumors were that Salazar asked the president to keep Quiñónez in office. Something that finally happened this week with the votes of several pro-government deputies. On September 3 of last year, Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary of State of the United States, gave a press conference after the donation of one million vaccines against Covid -19.
In his speech he mentioned several striking aspects. The senior government official made special emphasis on corruption and that its fight depends on all sectors.
Some of the most important quotes were «corruption kills democracy» or «we have strong tools and we will not hesitate to use them», among others. Added to this is the absence of Sandra Quiñónez, State Attorney General, during the meetings where the high secretary was present. On December 9, 2019, González Daher was declared “significantly corrupt” by the United States Department of State. With this, several members of his family were prohibited from entering the North American country. The measure was taken to coincide with the International Day against Corruption.
The appointment reached Nélida Chávez de González (wife of the former senator), and her children Óscar and María.
Javier Díaz Verón, former Attorney General, and Ulises Quintana, deputy for the ANR, suffered the same fate months later.
