MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Israeli newspaper links former Paraguayan President and VP to Hezbollah's finances

Velázquez and Cartes have been declared “most corrupt” by US authorities

An article published during the weekend by the Israeli English-language newspaper The Jerusalem Post written by Peter Marko Tase mentioned former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes as it delved into the subject of “South American facilitators” who amplify Hezbollah's threat. The founder of the Azerbaijan-US Economic and Educational Council, Tase is an expert in South American geopolitics who has authored various books on international relations.

 “In the midst of the war brewing along Israel's northern border, it would seem extremely difficult for Hezbollah to go unnoticed in any respect. However, the Lebanese terrorist group is doing just that, with the help of one of its South American facilitators,” Tase argued. “The roots of the problem are planted in the Triple Frontier: The tri-border region that connects Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay and is a hub for terrorist financing through the laundering of money from illicit activities.”

“The US government has described that Hezbollah agents use companies in that region as a front to finance terrorist activities in the Middle East,” the article went on while recalling that Cartes and former Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velázquez Moreno had been singled out by US authorities for their alleged involvement in “systemic corruption that has undermined democratic institutions in Paraguay.”

US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield was said to know of Cartes' and Velázquez's ties to Hezbollah. The Treasury Department also said that envoys from these two local leaders had collected bribes at private events held by Hezbollah in Paraguay. The publication also mentioned “clandestine financial operations benefiting Hezbollah's war machine in the Middle East” that are likely to keep growing “as long as Paraguay's current attorney general, Emiliano Rolón Fernández, remains in office.”

Lawyer Víctor Manuel Galeano Perrone was also pointed at as the link between Cartes' pro-Hezbollah policies and Rolón's refusal to investigate the terrorist organization's money laundering network in Paraguay. During Rolón's tenure the masterminds behind the murder of Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia on May 10, 2022, remain undetected, Tase also noted.

In this scenario, Israel faces war on multiple fronts because Rolón's presence also means that Cartes and Velázquez can continue “to thumb their noses at Washington as they engage in influence peddling on behalf of money laundering operations that support Hezbollah.” Despite sanctions from US authorities, no action was taken to confront Cartes and Velazquez's involvement with terrorists in the Middle East, the article also underscored.

The White House has historically failed to combat “Hezbollah's financial ties to South America and Paraguay in particular” and the President Joseph “Biden administration is no exception,” the JPost stated. The author also blamed Biden for not sending “a clear message” to Iran on the subject while also describing “ongoing concerns about Hezbollah's activities in Paraguay” that will also continue to overshadow what might otherwise be promising relations between Jerusalem and Asuncion.”

Under Cartes, Paraguay moved its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem but the country later backtracked. Incumbent President Santiago Peña said last week that the diplomatic mission would be transferred once again.