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.
US Ambassador to Asunción Marc Ostfield Thursday urged the Paraguayan Police, the Attorney General's Office, and the Judiciary to be strong against the influence of coercive sectional interests. During his speech before President Santiago Peña at the Police Academy graduation ceremony, he also reiterated his country's support in the fight against corruption, organized crime, and impunity.
In the first eleven months of 2023, Paraguayan exports amounted to US$ 15.8787 billion, which represented a 24% interannual growth, it was reported in Asunción. The improvement was significantly explained by higher shipments of soybeans, rice, and soybean meal, which accounted for 69.3% of the sales abroad, reaching US$ 11,001.6 million, a 19.1% increase from November 2022.
The United States has reopened its doors to Paraguayan beef after 25 years, President Santiago Peña announced Thursday together with US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment José W. Fernández and US Ambassador Marc Ostfield, it was reported in Asunción.
Authorities from Paraguay and the United States agreed in Asunción this week to extend until 2025 an agreement in place since 2019 to expedite the exchange, marketing, importation, and exportation of agricultural products.
Paraguayan authorities insisted this week before the US Embassy that there were no sanitary impediments for the northern country to welcome beef shipments from the South American nation, only red tape was hindering progress in that regard.
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.
Former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartés (2013-2018) has been added to the US State Department's black list of highly corrupt individuals, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday in a statement.
Paraguay's Foreign Ministry Julio César Arriola and US Ambassador Marc Ostfield Monday held a meeting in Asunción to discuss strengthening the fight against corruption, the mutual quest for security, and “promoting mutual and inclusive economic prosperity.”