Paraguay’s President Avoids Corruption Investigation over Itaipú Agreement

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, the Paraguayan Parliament rejected a motion for an investigation into President Mario Abdo Benítez, Vice-president Hugo Velázquez, and Finance Minister Benigno López, the president’s half-brother.

The motion was brought to the Chamber of Deputies by the opposition in the wake of a scandal over an energy agreement with Brazil. The motion argues that the agreement would have caused severe damages to Paraguay. After a domestic political crisis, the deal was canceled.

The 43 deputies of the ruling Colorado Party voted unanimously against the opposition’s motion. Representatives of the right-wing ruling party also announced that they would support the government in its efforts to boost the South American country’s crisis-stricken economy. Immediately after completing his first year in office, Benítez seems to have averted a serious political crisis that could have marked the end of his career.

The leader of the opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), Efraín Alegre, harshly criticized the Colorado Party’s “impunity pact”. The ruling party was not concerned with clarifying the scandal, but only with protecting Benítez and vice-president Velázquez from impeachment. The “weak government without citizen support” relied on the parliamentary majority. Alegre congratulated the deputies who voted in favor of the opposition’s motion.

The opposition accuses the right-wing politician of entering into a secret bilateral agreement on the Itaipú hydroelectric power plant to the detriment of Paraguayan interests. After the Three Gorges Dam in China, Itaipú is the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant. It is located on the Paraná River, the border between Paraguay and Brazil.

Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color had published transcripts of private talks between Benítez and Pedro Ferreira, former head of the National Energy Agency (ANDE). It appears that the head of state was aware of the questionable terms of the agreement. ANDE is believed to have suffered losses of up to US$250 million.

Some 32 parliamentarians had previously supported a 172-page motion for impeachment.