Horacio Cartes
Paraguayan businessman, president of Paraguay 2013–2018, sanctioned by the US for corruption
| Horacio Cartes
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Paraguayan |
| Occupation | Businessman; politician |
| Known for | President of Paraguay, 2013–2018; US corruption designation (2022) and Treasury sanctions (2023) |
Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara is a Paraguayan businessman and politician who was president of Paraguay from 2013 to 2018. In 2022 the US State Department designated him for "involvement in significant corruption", and in January 2023 the US Treasury sanctioned him, saying he had paid monthly cash bribes to legislators. In July 2026 Intelligence Online reported, citing a single source, that he had sought the help of the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube against corruption investigations in 2022.
Before entering politics Cartes held controlling stakes in dozens of companies, including a bank and Paraguay's largest tobacco company. He joined the Colorado Party in 2009 and won the presidency in April 2013 with 45.8 per cent of the vote.[1] The Black Cube allegation is covered on Black Cube in Paraguay.
Politics
The BBC described Horacio Cartes in 2013 as "a political newcomer" whose victory returned the Colorado Party to power after its defeat by the left-wing candidate Fernando Lugo in 2008. He beat Efraín Alegre of the Liberal Party by about nine points.[1]
The US Treasury later gave its own account of his rise. It said he had provided "financial investments and incentives" to induce the party to drop a ten-year membership requirement so that he could stand as its nominee, and had paid party members up to $10,000 each to back him before the 2013 election. It said he pledged $1 million in 2017 to buy legislators' votes for an unsuccessful constitutional change that would have let him run for a second term in 2018.[2]
US designations and sanctions
State Department, July 2022
On 22 July 2022 the US State Department designated Cartes "for his involvement in significant corruption" under Section 7031(c) of its annual appropriations act. The statement, issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said he "obstructed a major international investigation into transnational crime in order to protect himself and his criminal associate from potential prosecution and political damage", and referred to his "recently documented involvement with foreign terrorist organizations and other U.S.-designated entities". His three adult children were also designated.[3]
Treasury, January 2023
On 26 January 2023 the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Cartes and the then vice-president, Hugo Velázquez, under Executive Order 13818, which implements the Global Magnitsky Act.[2] Treasury said:
- Cartes "maintained his grip on policymaking through monthly cash bribes paid out to loyal legislators", of $5,000 to $50,000 per member, and stopped paying those who did not follow his orders.
- After leaving office he continued "bribing legislators to direct votes in his interest, with top supporters receiving as much as $50,000 monthly".
- Cartes and Velázquez "both have ties to members of Hizballah", and representatives of both had collected bribes at meetings in Paraguay.
OFAC also designated four companies as owned or controlled by Cartes: Tabacos USA Inc., Bebidas USA Inc., Dominicana Acquisition S.A. and Frigorífico Chajha S.A.E.[2]
Tabesa, August 2024
On 6 August 2024 OFAC designated the Paraguayan tobacco company Tabacalera del Este (Tabesa) for providing financial support to Cartes. Treasury said Tabesa had previously been listed as an entity in which Cartes held 50 per cent or more, and that although he no longer owned it following a sale of his shares, it had made, and planned to continue making, "payments worth millions of dollars" to him.[4]
Black Cube
In July 2026 Intelligence Online reported that in 2022 Cartes sought the help of Black Cube, through its Madrid office, "in trying to rid himself of a series of corruption investigations" by the Public Prosecutor's Office into money laundering, cigarette smuggling and tax avoidance. Citing "a person close to the case", it said the work consisted of helping his allies push back against accusations of high-level corruption, that a plan was agreed at the Sheraton hotel in Asunción in September 2022, and that Black Cube invoiced an unnamed Paraguayan law firm for the work as "litigation support".[5]
The account rests on that single source. Black Cube, through an English law firm, cited client confidentiality and denied conducting political investigations in Paraguay. No response from Cartes is reported.[5] Full detail is on Black Cube in Paraguay. The same article reported Black Cube work for the Huts family of Katoen Natie in Uruguay; see Black Cube in Uruguay.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Horacio Cartes wins Paraguay presidential election, BBC News, 22 April 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 US Department of the Treasury, Treasury Sanctions Paraguay's Former President and Current Vice President for Corruption, press release, 26 January 2023.
- ↑ US Department of State, Designation of Former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara for Involvement in Significant Corruption, press statement by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, 22 July 2022.
- ↑ US Department of the Treasury, Treasury Designates Tobacco Company for Supporting Paraguay's Sanctioned Former President, press release, 6 August 2024.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Matt Bernardini and Michael Sweeney, Black Cube, business and politics in Latin America, Intelligence Online, 15 July 2026.