The United States says corruption in Paraguay starts at the top

CORRUPTION IS nothing new in Paraguay. But the scale of the backlash from the United States it has provoked may be. At a press conference in his embassy in Asunción on January 26th, Marc Ostfield, the us ambassador, unveiled harsh new sanctions on the two most powerful figures in the ruling Colorado Party. Horacio Cartes, the country’s president from 2013 to 2018, and Hugo Velázquez, the current vice-president, are accused of “rampant corruption” and ties to terrorists.

Mr Cartes, a rich businessman, is accused of having paid party members as much as $10,000 to back his presidential candidacy. He also allegedly greased legislators’ palms with up to $50,000 a month and promised to split $1m between them if they amended the constitution to allow his re-election. For more than a decade, the Biden administration argues, Mr Cartes has “leveraged his illicitly acquired wealth and influence to expand his political and economic power over Paraguayan institutions.” Mr Velázquez is accused of making threats and offering bribes to “protect himself and criminal associates”. Both men deny all the allegations.