Last 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.
The announcement also included Juan Carlos “Charly” Duarte, current advisor to the Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY), for his participation in the same events. Duarte would have been the one who made the payment. A few minutes later, 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. In interviews with several radio stations he announced that he will not resign until he has the details of the causes of which he is accused. For example, the name of the official who was bribed and details about the investigation he allegedly tried to stop.
VELAZQUEZ
The Vice President, in an interview with 730 AM, announced that he will wait for a real complaint to defend himself. “I don’t know if the votes for impeachment exist or not. I’m not worried. I simply made this decision because I consider it appropriate. There is not a single body in Paraguay that is investigating the vice president. If I left, people would assume that there are open causes. I already have knowledge of the ruling, for which they are going to ask the embassy for reports,” he said.
Regarding his wife, Lourdes Samaniego, the deputy attorney general with permission, Velázquez announced that he will take the time to resign or not from his position. “My wife will make her own decision, she is looking into it. Informally, I know that there is no investigation against me in the United States, “she said.
He announced that the Public Ministry will request elements of the crime from the Embassy of the United States. “At a minimum, I must know what is against me. From the complaints made by the ambassador, I confirm that I will go out and defend myself as a citizen”, he pointed out.
