Everything as it was: government candidate Pena wins elections in Paraguay

The wave of success of the Partido Colorado ruling party in Paraguay remains unbroken. Santiago Pena (44) of the conservative party won 42.7 percent of the vote in the presidential election, the national election authority announced on Monday. MP Efraín Alegre (60), who was nominated by several opposition parties and was about the same in polls, came out at 27.4 percent. Candidate Payo Cubas (61), who acted as a critic of the system, took third place, far behind all other applicants.

In the past 76 years, the Partido Colorado has lost just one election in the South American country – and was not in power from 2008 to 2013. Five years ago, Alegre lost to Mario Abdo Benítez, the outgoing incumbent. Abdo Benítez was not allowed to stand for re-election for constitutional reasons – the president is only allowed one term.

In addition to the president, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the governors were also newly elected on Sunday. According to the election authority, the Colorado Party also defended its majority in parliament. She also won 15 of the 17 governorships.

“Today we celebrate not a personal triumph, but the victory of the people who have chosen the path of social peace,” Pena said in his first post-election speech. He also thanked his political mentor, party leader Horacio Cartes. Observers assume that the ex-president will continue to pull the strings in the background in the future.

The tobacco entrepreneur Cartes is one of the richest men in the South American country. Due to allegations of corruption, the US authorities recently put him on the sanctions list and froze his assets in the United States. In addition, Cartes and the incumbent Vice President Hugo Velázquez are said to have contacts with the Shiite organization Hezbollah.

Pena was Minister of Finance and mainly wants to promote the economic development of the country. “Jobs, investment in human capital, health, education. The coming years could be the best years for Paraguay,” Pena said ahead of the vote.

In Paraguay, golden times could even dawn. An agreement with Brazil expires in August, according to which Paraguay must sell its surplus electricity from the joint hydroelectric plant Itaipu to the neighboring country at fixed prices. Paraguay itself needs only about eight percent of its share of the world’s second-largest hydroelectric power station for its own energy needs. If it can sell the excess electricity on the open market in the future, it should flush the state coffers with significant profits.

The elections in Paraguay were also followed closely in Beijing. Paraguay is one of the few countries in the world that still maintains relations with Taiwan. Due to Beijing’s One China policy, countries can only have relations with either Taiwan or China, not both. The influential farmers in Paraguay have long wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China, as they believe this will improve the export opportunities of, for example, soybeans and beef. Unlike opposition candidate Alegre, who wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China, Pena remains loyal to Taiwan.

Paraguay has nearly seven million inhabitants and, together with Bolivia, is the only country in South America without access to the sea. The main export products are soy, electricity and beef. During the corona pandemic, many opponents of vaccination emigrated from Germany to Paraguay. (sda/dpa)