Abdo Benítez declared by secret pact with Brasi …

The President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, said this Sunday for about seven hours in front of three prosecutors as a witness in the controversial case of the secret agreement reached with Brazil for the purchase of 39 energy from the hydroelectric multinational Itaipú, about to be expensive. political judgment

The conservative president was questioned in the presidential residence by prosecutors Marcelo Pecci, Susy Riquelme and Liliana Alcaraz, without however going beyond the details of his statement, reported the IP news agency, and the newspapers. ABC color and Last hour.

"It's a vast, complex, technical, very specific cause, with transnational connotations, where some expertise will surely have to be exercised," Pecci warned. It is still too early to know whether the president's behavior was "punishable", he added.

Upon his arrival at the presidential residence, Pecci had declared that he would act as a "witness" for which there would be no predetermined questionnaire and explained that they would interrogate Abdo Benítez at home because "a legal exception" governs the obligation to appear (in the prosecution) because of the investiture of high authorities, including the president of the republic ".

Instead, Alcaraz said that it would act as an "interview" for the purpose of "obtaining information" because "at this stage, the prosecution n & # 39; 39; has no formality, as it does an oral trial, in which evidence is collected "

Pecci added that "in the next few hours", he would set the date to make a similar statement to Vice President Hugo Velázquez, also involved in the case.

On May 24, Paraguay and Brazil signed an act – held secret until the end of July – establishing a timetable for the purchase of energy at Itaipu until 2022. , one year before the two parties were forced to renegotiate certain aspects of the treaty establishing the binational dam.

The opposition criticized the agreement for considering that this meant a transfer of energy sovereignty to Brazil and prompted a political trial against Abdo Benítez, whom he had accused of "vendepatria". In this context, the president announced that he was retreating with the pact. A decision that was supported by his partner Jair Bolsonaro.