A majority of Supreme Federal Court (STF) justices voted Thursday for the conviction of former senator and former president Fernando Collor for passive corruption and money laundering in a case of Operation Lava Jato, Agencia Brasil reported. So far, the score is 6 to 1 for conviction. After voting Thursday, the session was adjourned and will resume on May 24.
Uruguay is experiencing a crisis in the government cabinet formed by a coalition of conservative parties. President Luis Lacalle Pou requested the resignation of Housing Minister Irene Moreira after a controversial direct awarding of a house to a militant of her party, Cabildo Abierto, without a lottery, as reported by Montevideo media on Friday.
The extradition of former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes and other politicians in the South American country who have been declared as “significantly corrupt” may come after the April 30 elections, according to an article carried in the latest issue of Americas Quarterly magazine.
The US State Department has added three Paraguayan nationals to its list of significantly corrupt officials just one day after signing a new arrangement with the South American country whereby military engineers would assist in future waterway developments.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami Monday resigned his post on Monday after the opening of a corruption investigation involving the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in which two officials have already been arrested. El Aissami, a powerful ally of President Nicolás Maduro, has been singled out by the United States as an alleged drug lord.
Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno and 36 other people have been indicted Sunday in connection with a possible case of corruption involving the construction of a hydroelectric plant by the Chinese company Sinohydro at a cost of US$ 2.245bn. Moreno attended his arraignment audience virtually, it was reported.
Ecuador's parliamentary committee investigating a corruption scandal approved by 6 votes to 1 to move on with the impeachment of President Guillermo Lasso, who has been linked to drug trafficking and possible crimes against the security of the State and the public administration, it was reported in Quito.
The regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the Andean Region and the Southern Cone (Undoc), Candice Welsch, has had a busy agenda in Asunción. She held separate meetings with US Ambassador Marc Ostfield and also with the Paraguayan Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering (Seprelad). In both encounters, corruption and money laundering were the main topics.
Denmark scored 90 points out of 100, to the top Transparency International's Index as the least corrupt country in the world, followed by Finland and New Zealand (87 points each). At the other end of the table were Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan. Uruguay was a Latin American country with better grades.
At the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington DC, the United Kingdom delegation emphasized the need for the global community to continue fighting illicit finance and corruption.