The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a Paraguayan tobacco company, Tabacalera del Este S.A., known as Tabesa, for providing financial support to the former president of Paraguay, Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara.
The former president was sanctioned by OFAC on January 26, 2023, for his involvement in corruption.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has stated that Cartes owned, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest of Tabesa. Presently, Cartes no longer owns Tabesa, but Tabesa plans to continue making payments worth millions of dollars to Cartes, despite Cartes’s designation by OFAC.
According to OFAC, Cartes’ political career was built on corrupt means of success. He joined the Colorado Party in 2009, providing financial investments and incentives to encourage the party to drop its 10-year term of affiliation requirement to allow him to run as its presidential nominee. Cartes paid party members up to $10,000 each in support of his candidacy ahead of the 2013 elections. As President of Paraguay, he continued his corrupt practices, including making cash payments to officials in exchange for their loyalty and support.
