"We ask the US government to speed up the process of the ambassador's departure and thus prevent the loss of confidence in one person from damaging the relations we have historically maintained," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, a US ally.
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department announced tougher sanctions against the interests and assets of Tabacalera SA, a tobacco company linked to former president Horacio Cartes (2013-2018).
"We reluctantly accept the media coverage and politicization of the administrative sanctions" against Tabacalera, Paraguay's diplomatic service said in a statement released on Thursday.
Marc Ostfield, the US ambassador in Asunción since March 2022 and who is coming to the end of his mission, has been a vocal critic of corruption in Paraguay.
Ostfield's successor has already been nominated, but the US Senate has yet to begin the confirmation process, which could be lengthy.
The country of 7.5 million inhabitants, situated between Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil and with porous borders conducive to drug trafficking, is ranked 136th (out of 180) in the corruption perception index of the non-governmental organisation Transparency International.
On Thursday, Ostfield was summoned to Paraguay's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he defended the sanctions against Tabacalera as a "company that materially aids, sponsors or provides financial, material or technological support" to Horacio Cartes.
After the announcement of the new sanctions on Tuesday, Tabacalera's management defended itself, stating that Horacio Cartes no longer holds shares in the company and that the measures imposed by the United States are for "commercial purposes".
Cartes, 68, remains the president of the conservative Colorado Party, which has been in power in Paraguay for 76 years, with the exception of the period between 2008 and 2012. He is also the godfather and mentor of Santiago Peña, 45, who was elected head of state last year.
In January 2023, Washington had already imposed sanctions against the tobacco industry magnate, accusing Cartes and the current vice president, Hugo Velázquez Moreno, of participating in corruption schemes and having links to members of a terrorist organization.
The US Treasury Department said the former president was involved in "systemic corruption that endangered democratic institutions in Paraguay" through "widespread bribery of government officials and legislators." Cartes was also accused of having links to members of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization.
