ASUNCIÓN – Paraguay will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this month, following the United States and Guatemala, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has announced.
The Paraguayan president, Horacio Cartes, confirmed that he will go to Israel but the date is unknown.
“Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes plans to come to Israel before the end of the month to open a new embassy in Jerusalem,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahson said, although he did not confirm the specific date.
Palestinian president asks Latin America not to move embassies to Jerusalem
But a spokesman for the Paraguayan government said the president plans to travel to Israel on May 21 or 22 for the transfer of the diplomatic headquarters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said in April that “at least half a dozen” countries were seriously discussing following the example of the United States, but he did not identify them.
Cartes announced in April his intention to move his legation to Jerusalem, as the United States will do next May 14 and two days after Guatemala, in an event attended by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.
In addition, the Czech Republic announced the opening of an honorary Consulate this month as the first phase for the relocation of its embassy, Honduras hopes to ratify a parliamentary motion in this regard and Romania has also shown its willingness to move it.
The US president, Donald Trump, broke last December with the international consensus to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, whose eastern part was occupied by Israel during the Six Day War of 1967 and annexed in 1980, in a decision not recognized by the international community.
“Wonderful news as the international recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel gains momentum,” Nahson said on Twitter after the announcement from Paraguay.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry had previously stressed that “Latin American countries played a leading role in the history of the State of Israel in 1947” and “now show the way in the recognition of Jerusalem as our capital. Thank you, Latin America, for your support and friendship!”
