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Reuters
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Velázquez's associates had sent Paraguay to "obstruct an investigation that threatened the Vice President and his economic interests." said to have offered bribes to public officials.
The charges set off a political earthquake in Paraguay, where Velázquez was set to run as the government's presidential candidate in December's conservative Colorado Party primary. rice field.
Velázquez has said he will abandon his candidacy and resign from his vice presidency this week. But while Velázquez said Thursday he had no intention of stepping down as vice president, he said in a statement that his decision not to run for president was "steadfast."
"When I spoke with you, I said I was going to step down from public office...I'm going to defend myself as a civilian," Velázquez told a local radio station.
"Yesterday afternoon I learned that the Department of Public Affairs decided to ask the US Embassy the facts regarding the complaint against me. We don't have the platform to do it," he added.
At the end of July, the US State Department also accused former President Horacio Cartes of engaging in "gross corruption" and obstructing international investigations into cross-border crimes.
Cartes' political campaign will face Velázquez in the primary election, with the winner becoming his candidate for the April 2023 general election. Cartes' candidate and former minister, Santiago Peña, is still running.
(reported by Daniela Desantis; edited by Leslie Adler)
