Deputy Yamil Esgaib (Colorado Party) said Tuesday that he has nothing to hide but refuses to present his business administration degree, issued by Universidad Sudamericana – the same institution at the center of the fake-degree scandal involving former senator Hernán Rivas. Asked when he would show the document, he replied: “When I feel like it, not when he feels like it,” referring to independent deputy Raúl Benítez, who challenged him to prove his academic credentials.
Esgaib called Benítez a “troublemaker” and said the matter had already been clarified. “This degree is legal and there are avenues to appeal if anyone thinks it’s not legal,” he said before the regular session of the Chamber of Deputies. To journalists, he repeated that he would not discuss the topic further and suggested that questions be directed to the Transparency Portal.
However, the Transparency Portal also does not provide clear information. Journalist and city council candidate Noelia Díaz requested from the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) copies of the degree and study certificate of Nasser Esgaib, the deputy’s son and also a Colorado councilor. In her request, Díaz argues that “it is legally irrational” for the MEC to claim it has no documentary record of the legalization and registration of the councilor’s university degree.
The case took a new turn after the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice overturned the summary acquittal of Hernán Rivas and ordered him to face an oral and public trial. Both Yamil Esgaib and his son Nasser have their degrees under suspicion, amid an investigation that exposes weaknesses in Paraguay’s university degree registration system.