OFAC Sanctions Paraguayan Tobacco Company, Issues General License

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Tabacalera del Este, a Paraguay-based cigarette manufacturer, and issued a new general license authorizing certain transactions with the company. OFAC said Tabacalera is owned 50% or more by former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, who was sanctioned by the agency in January for corruption, along with another of his companies, Tabacos USA (see 2301260073).

New General License No. 7 authorizes certain transactions involving Tabacos USA, Tabacalera del Este or any entity they own by 50% or more. Those transactions must be “ordinarily incident and necessary" to payments under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, a settlement between the U.S. and four tobacco companies that resolved dozens of state lawsuits associated with treating smoking-related illnesses, OFAC said.