Santiago Peña, an experienced 44-year-old economist who has served as Minister of Finance in the government of President Cartes, Director of the Central Bank, and has worked for the International Monetary Fund, won the presidential elections in Paraguay in a clear victory. His opponent, 60-year-old veteran opposition leader Efraín Alegre, attempted for the third time to reach the presidency. The difficult economic situation of the country after the pandemic, inflation, and corruption were the main topics of the electoral campaign.
The economy in Paraguay will be as strong as international politics.
Paraguay, whose traditionally stable economy depends on exports of soybeans, beef, and electricity, grew only 0.2% last year and had inflation of 8.1%. Peña, whose party has governed the country for the last seven decades, promised to improve the country's economy through job creation and formalization of the economy, which proved attractive to voters. On the other hand, Alegre, who led a coalition of center-right and left forces called the National Concertation, proposed lowering electricity rates, fighting corruption, and changing the country's relations with Taiwan in favor of China.
Peña's victory makes Paraguay the only country in South America to continue recognizing Taiwan. During the campaign, Alegre criticized Paraguay's relations with Taiwan and expressed the possibility of establishing ties with China. China considers Taiwan a rebel province and argues that the island has no right to establish state-to-state relations, a position that the countries with which it establishes diplomatic relations must accept. However, Paraguay is Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in South America, one of the remaining 13 in the world, and this link has acquired a peculiar dimension in times of tension between China and Taiwan and the crisis derived from the war in Ukraine. In any case, the Taiwanese embassy in Paraguay congratulated Peña on his victory.
Despite corruption allegations against former President Cartes by the United States government and internal fracture in the powerful Colorado Party, also known as the National Republican Association (ANR), Peña managed to win the election with almost 43% of the vote. The Colorado Party has governed the country with the exception of a brief period between 2008 and 2013, and Peña is the latest to continue the conservative hegemony that has lasted for over 70 years.
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