The cases of corruption, links with drug trafficking and complete ineffectiveness in office, represent the fall of the then powerful that made up the first ring of the Executive Power.
Marked by irregular events, and thanks to attentive citizen pressure, there are many figures that today no longer make up the Government of Mario Abdo Benítez. In this material we recount the chronology of the great falls of this administration.
OCTOBER 2018
The then Director of Immigration, Julián Vega, had to step aside after the scandal that emerged in Taiwan, in which he was accused of harassing a translator. He himself had admitted having touched his thigh and, after the news was made public, put the charge at his disposal.
JULY 2019
When he was reaching his first year in government and being on the tightrope, the President of the Republic, Mario Abdo Benítez, was forced to make Foreign Minister Luis Castiglioni (current Minister of Industry) resign; the head of ANDE, Alcides Jiménez; the Paraguayan ambassador in Brazil, Hugo Saguier Caballero, and the Paraguayan director of Itaipú, José Alderete, after the scandal over the signing of the secret agreement with Brazil, on the purchase of energy from Itaipú.
Another who had to step aside was María Epifanía González, from Seprelad, as a result of the participation of Joselo Rodríguez, emissary of Vice President Hugo Velázquez, in the binational agreement.
SEPTEMBER 2019
Months later, Denis Lichi was relieved of the Ministry of Agriculture, after just over a year of management that was framed by peasant protests. The former minister left his position at that time to the senator of the Colorado Party Rodolfo Friedmann.
That same month, Marito accepted the resignation of the then Minister of Justice, Julio Javier Ríos, and arranged for the replacement of the commander of the National Police, commissioner Walter Vázquez, after the escape from the film of the drug trafficker Jorge Teófilo Samudio González, alias “Samura”, who he was rescued by an armed group that assaulted the prison van in which he was transferred.
OCTOBER 2019
The following month, Julio Ullón resigned from the position of head of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, in the face of various criticisms of his management, the last being the embarrassing visit of the false representative of Lamborghini in Latin America to the president. He was replaced by Juan Ernesto Villamayor, former Minister of the Interior.
Likewise, Horacio Torres presented his resignation from the position of president of the National Institute for Rural and Land Development (Indert), after being implicated in alleged cases of bribery in the institution under his charge.
APRIL 2020
In the midst of a pandemic, the questioned Patricia Samudio resigned from the position of president of Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar), pressured by citizen outrage over the suspicious purchase of 5,000 bottles of tonic water, masks and other health supplies that led to the intervention of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The same was done by Édgar Melgarejo of DINAC, when he was involved in a scandal over the alleged deal in the purchase of masks from an apparent briefcase company.
Another who also left was Robert Núñez, who was removed from his position as director of the XVIII Health Region, after the alleged VIP vaccination of then-senator Mirta Gusinky, another who stepped aside in this case.
AUGUST 2020
Rodolfo Friedmann resigned as Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, and returned to occupy his seat in the Senate, after the accusation of the Public Ministry for the case of the school lunch in Guaira was announced.
That month, Luis Villordo ended up leaving ANDE due to complaints of overbilling users during the pandemic, because the institution did not read the meters and only estimated the amounts.
This is how Vice Minister Juan Carlos Portillo also resigned, as a result of the scandal over a private party without respecting the protocols in the midst of a pandemic.
OCTOBER 2020
The highly questioned Dany Durand resigned as head of the Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing and Habitat (MUVH), after the controversial chat that was made public and in which he asked to escrachar deputies who were going to discuss the modification of the Fonavis law.
That same month, the first dismissal of the Government of Mario Abdo took place. The cracked was Mario Vega del Indert, who was charged with breach of trust, passive bribery and improper collection of fees, after an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for bribery complaints for US $ 200 thousand for title procedures.
While Antonio Rivas Palacios, who became foreign minister in July 2019, after the replacement of Luis Castiglioni, left that position to go as ambassador to Chile.
DECEMBER 2020
Sergio Coscia Nogués left the position of Attorney General of the Republic of Paraguay, when he was cornered by the surrender agreement between Petropar and the firm Texos Oil, which involved the payment of 7 million dollars in favor of the Argentine company.
FEBRUARY 2021
Alejandro Peralta Vierci was also removed from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (Mitic) after a series of scandals due to directions and maneuvers in bids, in addition to delayed projects such as the Digital Agenda and hiring of officials with salaries. Meanwhile, the then deputy minister of MITIC, Miguel Martin, presented his resignation from the position.
MARCH 2021
That month President Mario Abdo Benítez was again under pressure when the possibility of impeachment was considered for the second time. To calm the waters, the then Minister of Health, Julio Mazzoleni, presented his resignation from the position, due to the health crisis due to the lack of medicines and supplies in hospitals. He was followed by Dr. Julio Rolón Vicioso, who left the Vice Ministry of Health.
As the citizen mood was not calmed by these departures, that same month Abdo dismissed the then Minister of Education, Eduardo Petta, the Minister of Women, Nilda Romero, and the head of the Civil Cabinet, Juan Ernesto Villamayor. All of them highly criticized for his inefficiency.
Another who left office in March 2021 was Andrés Gubetich, former president of the Social Security Institute, as a result of the claims and complaints that arose due to the lack of supplies and the numerous scandals in which he was involved in the pension entity.
FEBRUARY 2022
The most recent cases are those of Arnaldo Giuzzio, former Minister of the Interior, and Joaquín Roa, of National Emergency.
Harshly questioned in his management due to the lack of results in the fight against insecurity, Giuzzio was finally dismissed for his ties to the alleged Brazilian drug trafficker Marcus Vinicius Espíndola Marques de Padua, arrested in Brazil as part of Operation Turf.
The now ex-authority acknowledged that he used a van registered in the name of the company Ombu SA, owned by the alleged drug trafficker, with whom he was also seen in several photographs, to vacation in Brazil.
Before Giuzzio’s departure, some moves were made in Abdo’s Cabinet. His presidential adviser, Federico González, went to the Ministry of the Interior, and Édgar Olmedo was appointed to Justice to replace Cecilia Pérez, who was assigned as adviser on Security Affairs to the Executive Branch. Olmedo came to occupy the position of head of the INDI, replacing Ana María Allen, who in the past was forced to resign at the request of the indigenous people.
The last controversial case was el Roa, who in less than 24 hours after leaving Giuzzio, was cut for his ties to the alleged drug trafficker Alberto “Beto” Koube, involved in the mega-operative Py at all costs. Roa acquired a luxurious yacht from the suspect’s company, and at the same time awarded millionaire tenders to him and his wife.
THOSE WHO ARE STILL SCREWED IN THEIR POSITIONS
The Minister of Public Works, Arnaldo Wiens, is one of the most questioned for being splashed in several cases of alleged overcharged tenders, such as the controversial ñandutí footbridge in Ñu Guasu.
Denis Lichi, who was located in Petropar, is another of the ministers who continue to have the blessing of President Mario Abdo Benítez.
