Paraguay’s Santiago Pena wins presidential election, ensuring strong ties with Taiwan
- Paraguayans elect a president from the rightwing party that has been in power for nearly eight decades
- President-elect Santiago Pena has pledged to maintain the status quo of recognising Taipei over Beijing
Paraguay’s ruling candidate Santiago Pena, 44, scored a big win in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, tightening the conservative Colorado Party’s political grip in the country and defusing fears about the end of diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Pena, who has pledged to maintain Paraguay’s long-standing Taiwan relations, had 42.7 per cent of the vote with over 99 per cent of ballots counted, a more than 15-point lead over centre-left rival Efrain Alegre, who has argued for switching allegiance to China.
“Thank you for this Colorado victory, thank you for this Paraguayan victory,” Pena said in a speech. Alegre acknowledged the result. Current President Mario Abdo Benitez congratulated Pena as “president-elect”, as did the leaders of Brazil and Argentina.
Colorado and right-wing party candidates also performed strongly in congressional elections and governor races, with some provinces recording a historic Colorado majority over opposition rivals.
The election result leaves Pena facing a challenge to rev up Paraguay’s farm-driven economy, shrink a major fiscal deficit and navigate rising pressures from soy and beef producers to ditch Taiwan in favour of China and its huge markets.
“We have a lot to do, after the last years of economic stagnation, of fiscal deficit, the task that awaits us is not for a single person or for a party,” Pena said in his victory speech, calling for “unity and consensus”.
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It also underscores the dominance of the Colorado Party, which has ruled for all by five of the last 75 years and has a fierce campaign machine, despite rising discontent from some voters over the slowing economy and corruption allegations.
Dry weather helped voter turnout, analysts said, with queues to cast ballots long after polling stations were formally meant to close at 4pm.
“All day we’ve observed high levels of participation,” an observer for the Organisation of American States (OAS) electoral mission said.
The build-up to the election has been dominated by the economy, corruption allegations and the candidates’ views on Taiwan. Paraguay is one of only 13 nations to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the democratically governed island that China views as its territory.
Taiwan’s ambassador in Asuncion offered his congratulations to Pena on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Based on shared values such as democracy and freedom and the traditional friendship between the two countries, our country will continue to deepen cooperation and exchanges with the new government of Paraguay,” the ministry said.
Alegre had criticised those ties, which have made it hard to sell soy and beef to China, a major global buyer. Pena had said he would maintain ties with Taiwan.
Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground.
China considers self-ruled, democratic Taiwan part of its territory to be retaken one day, and does not allow other countries to recognise both Beijing and Taipei.
Nicaragua shifted its allegiance to Beijing in 2021, as did El Salvador in 2018, Panama in 2017 and Costa Rica in 2007.
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Pena has also promised to move Paraguay’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Paraguay had previously moved its embassy in 2018, under ex-president Horacio Cartes, but reversed its decision within months, raising the ire of Israel.
“Yes, I would go back to Jerusalem,” Pena told Agence France-Presse before the vote.
“The State of Israel recognises Jerusalem as its capital. The seat of the Congress is in Jerusalem, the president is in Jerusalem. So who are we to question where they establish their own capital?”
Moving an embassy to Jerusalem is highly contentious. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital while Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg
