The long-standing governing party could suffer a rare defeat in the presidential election in Paraguay. In the past 76 years, the Partido Colorado has only lost one election in the South American country. Former Finance Minister Santiago Peña of the conservative Colorado Party and longtime MP Efraín Alegre of the Radical Liberal Party are now about even in the polls ahead of Sunday’s vote.
The opposition candidate could benefit from recent corruption allegations against senior members of the Colorado Party. Most recently, the United States put party leader and Paraguayan ex-president Horacio Cartas and incumbent Vice President Hugo Velázquez on the sanctions list. The previous head of state, Mario Abdo Benítez, has been in office since 2018 and will not stand again. The constitution allows the president to serve only one term.
Approaching China?
In the event of an election victory, 44-year-old Peña wants to push ahead with the country’s economic development. During the election campaign, the 60-year-old opposition candidate Alegre announced that he would take action against corruption and create more social equality. At the same time, Alegre wants to establish diplomatic relations with China. Paraguay has traditionally maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan, making it one of around a dozen countries remaining loyal to the small island in the power struggle between Beijing and Taipei. The influential farmers in Paraguay have long wanted to establish diplomatic relations with China because they believe this will improve export opportunities for soybeans and beef, for example.
In Central America, Honduras announced a few weeks ago that it would end its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead work with Beijing. The leadership in Tegucigalpa accompanied this decision by handing over a list of investment requests that the left-wing government in Honduras sent to the Chinese.
A key issue in the election campaign: public safety
The domestic political debate in Paraguay focused on questions of public security, unemployment, the wide gap between rich and poor and the fight against corruption. The regional church indirectly indicated that it was not averse to a change of course in politics. Ricardo Valenzuela, bishop from the Sanctuary of Caacupe, called for voting “to reward the good and punish the bad”. The bishops’ conference appealed to politicians to finally take a look at the fringes of society – the poor and indigenous people who have always been neglected by the established system.
Paraguay has almost seven million inhabitants and, along with Bolivia, is the only country in South America without access to the sea. Located between Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil, the country is a transit area for drug smuggling. The main exports are soy, electricity and beef. During the corona pandemic, numerous opponents of vaccination had emigrated from Germany to Paraguay.
Whoever receives the most votes in the election is elected; regardless of whether a candidate’s best result exceeds the 50 percent mark. Around 4.8 million citizens are also called upon to elect a new Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and 17 governors. Polling stations open at 1 p.m. CEST and close at 10 p.m. CEST. The first results are expected on Monday night.
kle/wa (dpa, kna, afp)