Colombia seeks to prevent Paraguay from becoming a drug trafficking victim as well

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On May 19, Colombia offered its support to Paraguay to prevent it from going down a similar path and becoming a victim of drug trafficking following the recent murder of Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor Marcelo Pecci.

At the end of a visit of less than 24 hours, the Colombian vice-president and foreign minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez, expressed her condolences to the Paraguayan people for the death of Pecci, shot on May 10 by unknown assailants while he was enjoying his honeymoon.

“Colombia has suffered the death of prosecutors, magistrates, ministers of justice, and presidential candidates because we have been the main victim of drug trafficking,” said Ramirez during a press conference.

“We want – added the official – to do all the work to prevent Paraguay from going down a similar path to that of Colombia”.

Ramírez, who landed in Paraguay shortly after midnight on Wednesday after visiting Uruguay, met today with the country’s president, Mario Abdo Benítez, and several of his ministers.

“I have not come to talk about the investigation, nor to bring data, much less to interfere in the work of the judicial authorities,” the vice president said, declining to refer to the case of the prosecutor, whose death has shaken the country.

At 45 years old, Pecci had become one of the most respected prosecutors in the country, most recently in charge of investigations against organized crime after his time in the Public Prosecutor’s Office unit that prosecuted drug trafficking.

“The most important thing for me, on behalf of President Iván Duque and of all Colombians, was to express our sincere condolences to the Paraguayan people, to the family of the prosecutor, his father, his family, his wife, Claudia,” Ramírez reiterated.

COOPERATION IN DIFFERENT AREAS

She pointed out that, last April in Cartagena de Indias, the leaders of both countries agreed to organize a binational cabinet meeting.

The meeting could take place at the end of June or the beginning of July, with the objective of “deepening cooperation” bilaterally.

Ramírez mentioned that this mechanism would address areas such as economic development, trade, investment, and cooperation on issues such as education, disaster prevention, sustainability, and climate change.

It will also focus on security and the fight against drug trafficking, which she described as a “criminal network of the worst magnitude” with “tentacles in every country”.

In this context, she stressed the importance of working together to strengthen the capacity of the State to identify money laundering, the flow of resources from drug trafficking, and associated crimes, such as trafficking in arms, people, or migrants.

She also expressed Paraguay’s and Colombia’s interest in deepening their commercial exchange, particularly exports of Paraguayan grains, soybeans, and yellow corn to the Colombian market.

According to Ramírez, there is currently a “trade surplus in favor of Paraguay”, although in figures that she considered “very low compared to the potential” of the common exchange.

WIDE AGENDA

Hours before and after meeting with his Colombian counterpart, the Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julio César Arriola, told journalists that the agenda between both countries “is extensive”.

The Paraguayan foreign minister pointed out that Colombia is the eleventh largest direct investor in Paraguay, with an accumulated amount of US$166 million.

He also indicated that nine slaughterhouses had been opened in that country to sell beef, and he foresaw that pork, poultry, and rice would also be exported to that market.

Ramírez also met with Paraguay’s Ministers of the Interior, Federico González, and of Defense, Bernardino Soto Estigarribia.

She also spoke with the Paraguayan Vice President, Hugo Velázquez, and closed her schedule with a meeting with Paraguayan and Colombian businesspeople.

With information from EFE