Write: Luis Allen.
The Chamber of Deputies unanimously decided the rapid removal of Erico Galeano, who received a tax charge for his alleged connections with organized crime and drug trafficking. The Cartist red bench had to let go of the legislator’s hand after Santi Peña himself asked him to submit to the court order, in a demonstration that the president-elect could have a real leadership over the members of the ANR in the Congress of the next constitutional period .
Taking a politically correct position that assures him to follow the indicated path to accumulate more power to the detriment of his mentor Horacio Cartes, the president-elect Santi Peña did not hesitate to ask the Cartist deputy Erico Galeano, accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of serious illegal acts, to put at the disposal of Justice and the acceptance of his violation requested by the competent judge who handles the drug trafficking case known as “A Ultranza Py”.
The Chartist bench, which was decisive in deciding the fate of Erico, had no choice but to place one of its members in the hands of Justice, because otherwise they could contradict none other than the president-elect, also a member of Chartism, Santiago Peña, who had already requested on Friday, May 19, the deputy charged by the judge, his submission to the judicial process.
Galeano wanted to hide behind his shield as a parliamentarian with privileges, which would make him, in his own words, “unimpeachable”, and due to his condition of being a senator elected in the last elections, implying that he would leave the vote for a probable impeachment only after taking office in the Senate from July 1, when in the next legislative period the ANR will have a majority of votes to avoid reaching the two-thirds required in the vote.
But this explanation apparently did not convince him or his colleagues on the bench, who decided to accompany the violation, Erico having no other way out than to make himself available to Judge Gustavo Amarilla and the prosecutors who also requested his preventive detention, accusing him of having had alleged participation in the drug scheme dismantled by the “A Ultranza Paraguay” operation.
Erico already knew what was coming with the renewed impetus to the fiscal initiative that has the clear mission of thoroughly investigating the behind the scenes of drug politics, especially due to international pressure. That explains the invitation that he made to the Colorado incumbent, Horacio Cartes, and Santi Peña, together with the other elected officials of Chartism in different positions throughout the country for a meeting in his villa on Friday the 19th, in a day whose culmination was the surprise notice of the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The cards were cast, with Erico expecting a defense from his Chartist peers that did not happen, perhaps because Horacio looked the other way, but also because his dauphin Santi took the lead in a skillful move of political chess and pressed the right key. in search of affirming himself as the one who will give the guidelines from now on, even eventually “without permission from the Employer”.
The key factor
The president-elect successfully faced the intention to stop Erico’s impeachment until July. It is that with the delay, in addition to concretizing the oath of the senator-elect, the possibility of obtaining a favorable vote in the new Upper House, where the opposition will be at a clear disadvantage compared to the red steamroller, was sought.
Peña had his first litmus test and did not miss the opportunity to show that he has the “pen” and that he is not a simple amanuensis of Cartes, who this time did not want to contradict the firm position of his godson.
Santi sped up the times and in his statement issued the same night as the meeting in Erico’s barbecue area, he was emphatic in requesting respect for judicial mandates and the primacy of the law, in what constitutes the first firm pronouncement in favor of independence. of the administration of Justice, even before the beginning of its administration.
Thus, Santi’s previous position was somewhat relegated to oblivion, still in the middle of the electoral campaign, when he questioned the actions of the Seprelad during the government of Marito Abdo, with Carlos Arregui at the head, saying that the organization anti-money laundering was used as a “political stick” to persecute HC and thus reduce its chances of electoral triumph, which even so, despite the sanctions of the United States, was able to win the Colorado title and later catapult Peña to the presidency of the Republic, with the support of 1,290,000 votes.
The tax accusation against Erico precisely includes money laundering and criminal association as the main acts outside the law of which the legislator is accused. It is to be hoped that Santi Peña’s firm attitude will be maintained for the rest of his term to combat acts of corruption that are later connected to the laundering of ill-gotten money, regardless of the face of the politician targeted. judicial.
Peña is being observed by the whole world and by investors, who view with concern that he only “reigns but does not govern”, being in the shadow of HC.
What worries the business world the most is that the well-oiled mechanism of political protection for the underworld of drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering continues. Santi’s attitude of favoring tax investigations and the prominence of Justice are a good indication that the reign of narcopolitics might not ultimately materialize in the new Chartist government.
Some peace of mind was produced by the fact that international risk rating agencies have for the moment maintained the rating of the Paraguayan sovereign debt, but in the same way there is still distrust that the most important institutions function independently, such as the case of the Prosecutor’s Office, that it was practically co-opted by Chartism during the administration of Sandra Quiñónez, as indicated by the case of the same deputy Galeano, who was not charged until the arrival of the new Attorney General Emiliano Rolón, despite the fact that for most of last year and Current 2023 in the middle of the electoral campaign, all the elements were already in place to impute Erico.
a long transition
There are still 80 days left for the inauguration of Santi Peña as head of the Executive, but there are already some clashes between the current Abdist administration and the new main Chartist government, such as the request of the transition team led by Lea Giménez and José Alberto Alderete, not to carry out new public and personnel contracts, “unless they are very urgent”, which could limit Marito Abdo’s room for maneuver as much as possible between now and August 15, in order to comply with some of their objectives not yet completed in government management.
It was already known of the interest of the people of HC in knowing more details about the hiring of some 200 new officials in Itaipu, to the point that it was even indicated that any public appointment could be reviewed later by the new administration that assumes with the new government, even binational.
In the long transition until the delivery of command by Marito, the Government must continue to function and even more so when it is essential to take measures leading to fiscal and macroeconomic balance, which are fundamental conditions to continue receiving internal and external credit.
The request from Santi’s new team to put a stop to public contracting would make sense if it is about new projects that will be carried out for the most part in the next five-year term, but they have no further foundation if they are executions of plans already underway. or programs intended to promote, for example, economic growth such as road construction, physical and social infrastructure, or measures that ultimately seek to improve the income of the Government itself in order to reduce the fiscal deficit.
As it happens with any outgoing management in any public department, when the famous “administrative cut” is carried out, what has been done and what remains to be executed is recorded, also at the national government level it would have to be made known to the public, both for the government that leaves and for the one that arrives, for the issues still pending that constitute the backbone of the entire fiscal scaffolding.
The accountability of successive governments is what still needs to be implemented correctly in the Paraguayan case, for the simple reason that the five years of management are limited and because government action programs are longer in the past. time covering more than a five-year period.
At the same time, the greatest task of the last governments had to be the recovery of the ill-gotten money due to the prevailing corruption and impunity in the face of a judicial administration that leaves much to be desired. Hopefully, at this point, both the outgoing government of Marito Abdo and the incoming government of Santi Peña can make progress in favor of a greater general well-being of the citizenry.