Esteban Aquino has been Minister of Intelligence since 2018. The politician was already deputy minister of the entity during the Cartes government. Sources from the newspaper who prefer to remain anonymous reported that high officials have already questioned Aquino’s lack of capacity and competence. The criticism began due to his lack of management within the pandemic to collaborate with other institutions.
The embassy of the United States and Horacio Cartes himself, former president of the Republic, according to the same sources, would be Aquino’s protectors, therefore, Abdo does not dare to remove him from office despite the questions.
Nor does he enjoy the confidence of the military leadership, of Euclides Acevedo, national chancellor, and Hugo Velázquez, vice president of the Republic.
The annoyance for its management goes mainly through authorities of other similar directorates that must be part of the management of the SNI due to the lack of capacity of this entity.
SUBSTITUTE
From September 2019 to March 2020, advisers to Mario Abdo Benítez contacted three possible candidates to replace him. However, everything ended in nothing after the request of the US embassy itself that it not be removed.
The SNI’s budget is only G. 6 billion a year (US$ 860 thousand). According to our sources, for the portfolio to function properly, the budget must be around US$10 million at least per year.
FEW PERFORMANCES
One of the few relevant actions by the Secretary of State took place on March 13, 2021. When he had a meeting with José Han, Taiwan’s ambassador to our country. On that occasion, the Intelligence Minister requested collaboration from the Asian ambassador for the importation of vaccines against Covid-19.
FUNCTIONS
Law 5241 reads the functions of the National Intelligence Secretariat. One of them is the collection and processing of information from all areas of the national and international level, in order to produce intelligence and make global and sectoral assessments, in accordance with the requirements made by the President of the Republic. This just to mention some of its obligations.
MORE FROM AQUINAS
Aquino Bernal was deputy minister of the SNI. He previously served as advisor to the Secretariat for the Prevention and Investigation of Terrorism (Seprinte). He was also Secretary General of the Military Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic. The SNI is the equivalent of the CIA in the United States. The designer was the deputy Hugo Rubín of the PEN, but finally his original project underwent several modifications at the time of being sanctioned in 2014 with the government of Horacio Cartes. The team of this newspaper tried to communicate with the head of the SIN, but we did not have an answer. We are attentive to any call.
