“In a letter read publicly this morning, Cinthia González, widow of the murdered Brazilian journalist Leo Veras, denounced that the [Paraguayan] congressman for Amambay, Santiago Benítez and owner of Radio Imperio, allegedly interceded on behalf of Waldemar Pereira, alias ‘Cachorrão’, a 41-year-old Paraguayan and alleged hitman linked to organized crime who was investigated for the murder of the aforementioned journalist.
According to González, the incident occurred days after Veras's murder, which occurred on Feb. 12, 2020, in Pedro Juan Caballero. The woman reported receiving a call from Benítez inviting her to his home, where he handed her a phone, saying, 'He wants to talk to you,' referring to 'Cachorrão.' In that conversation, the man allegedly asked her to assist in delivering a flash drive to the Prosecutor's Office, which supposedly contained evidence favorable to his defense. 'I never took that flash drive,' González asserted.
The complainant claimed that the congressman kept the material in his possession and showed her the video content. She also stated that Benítez contacted her again on March 3 of that year to ask her to call a radio station and deny having mentioned him to any prosecutor, offering her the promise of finding her a job 'later.'"
