The United States is imposing sanctions on Paraguayan tobacco company Tabacalera del Este S.A. (Tabesa) for providing financial support to Paraguay’s former president, Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara (Cartes), a U.S.-designated person.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Cartes on January 26, 2023, for his involvement in corruption. On March 31, 2023, OFAC identified Tabesa as an entity in which Cartes owned, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest. Pursuant to a sales agreement between Tabesa and Cartes, Tabesa has made – and plans to continue making – payments worth millions of dollars to Cartes, despite his designation by OFAC.
Today’s actions reinforce the United States’ sanctions on former President Cartes and demonstrate the U.S. commitment to ensuring the integrity of our sanctions programs and inhibiting Cartes’s ability to receive financial benefits. The United States remains dedicated to ensuring accountability for Cartes and to promoting meaningful anti-corruption reform in Paraguay.
OFAC’s designation of Tabesa today was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. For more information, see Treasury’s press release.
Official news published at https://www.state.gov/reinforcing-sanctions-on-former-paraguayan-president-horacio-cartes/
