MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay urges US to speed up Ambassador's departure

The loss of trust towards a person should not damage the relationship between the two countries, FM Ramírez argued

The Paraguayan Government Thursday asked the United States to speed up the departure from Asunción of Ambassador Marc Ostfield after the diplomat spoke in favor of the sanctions applied by the OFAC to the tobacco company Tabesa, linked to former President Horacio Cartes, the mentor of the incumbent Santiago Peña.

“I want to be very clear. We do not make a value judgment on the use of administrative tools that are framed in US legislation, we do have a position on how they were communicated,” Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano explained after his office issued a statement regarding the “mediatization and politicization of the administrative sanctions” imposed by the United States to the company Tabacalera del Este S.A. (Tabesa) announced days ago by Ostfield.

Asunción also urged Washington to speed up Ostfield's departure “to avoid that the loss of trust towards a person damages the relationship we have historically maintained.”

Ramírez recalled that Paraguay and the United States were strategic allies in regional and global issues regarding defense, security, the fight against corruption, trade, and investment.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sent a letter to Tabesa's José Ortiz Escauriza stating that the company remained on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN). This document was dated Aug. 6 but it went public Thursday. The OFAC upheld its March 31, 2023, ruling despite the evidence submitted by the company to reverse the measure.

According to the OFAC, Tabesa was initially designated under Executive Order 13818 of December 20, 2017, due to its ties to Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, former president of Paraguay, whose properties and interests have been blocked by the US government. The order specifies that any entity in which Cartes directly or indirectly owns a 50% or greater stake is subject to sanctions. It was also established that Tabesa intended to continue supporting Cartes.

After reviewing the material submitted, the OFAC acknowledged the validity of some arguments but determined that new evidence showed that Tabesa has continued to provide financial support to Cartes and plans to continue to do so.

The OFAC noted that, according to documentation submitted by Tabesa itself, the company has made and intends to continue making millions in payments directly to Cartes, despite his designation as a blocked person. This action, according to the OFAC, constitutes significant material support, which reinforces the justification for maintaining the sanction. Tabesa has already paid US$ 120 million to Cartes for part of his shares in the company.

This decision means that Tabesa's assets in the United States are blocked and that US citizens are prohibited from transacting with the company. The letter also mentions that if Tabesa wishes to attempt a new reconsideration in the future, it will have to present new evidence that could change such an assessment.

Last month, the US Government of President Joseph Biden picked career diplomat Gabriel Escobar to take over from Ostfield as the next Ambassador to Asunción. However, Escobar still needs the Senate's nod.