MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CIA official meets with Paraguayan president

After the meeting, Abdo flew to the United States

Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benítez Wednesday confirmed having met with US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Deputy Director David Cohen in Asunción to discuss national security issues.

”We received the visit of David Cohen (...) with whom we discussed the strengthening of cooperation between our countries in matters of national security,“ said Abdo on Twitter, while the US Embassy in Asuncion stressed that the meeting between ”took place in the framework of the robust bilateral cooperation between the United States and Paraguay.“

The diplomatic mission also pointed out on the same social network that ”shared strategies for combating global threats were addressed.”

After Cohen's visit, President Abdo and First Lady Silvana Abdo traveled to the United States together with Defense Minister Bernardino Soto, while Foreign Minister Julio Arriola was to join them at their destination.

Paraguay's National Intelligence Secretariat (SNI) published pictures of Cohen alongside the South American country's Intelligence Minister Esteban Aquino.

“The Minister of the @sni_paraguay, Esteban Aquino received the significant visit of the Deputy Director of the @CIA, @cohendavid, an opportunity in which he highlighted the effort and contributions deployed by the SNI in defense of democracy and the fight against global terrorism,” reads the SNI's publication on Twitter.

Cohen's visit came a week after the US State Department added Paraguayan politicians Édgar Melgarejo, Jorge Bogarín, and Vicente Ferreira to the list of corrupt officials banned from entering the country for their alleged being involved in corruption cases. Former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes (2013-2018) and current Vice President Hugo Velázquez are also on the same infamous list.