Santiago Peña is now officially in charge of Paraguay. Aged 44, this conservative economist took office as president on Tuesday in Asuncion. He took the opportunity to reveal his main objective for his mandate: to fight against the corruption which plagues the country and is worth to his mentor, a former head of state, to be under the blow of American sanctions.
“I am convinced that the problems of corruption are resolved with independent, impartial and rapid justice,” he declared in his inaugural speech. He promised a “clear, strong, unwavering and transparent” policy against corruption, and for “politics to stop being tempting for organized crime”. This transparency “will allow us to show the world that Paraguay is much better than some describe it”, he assured.
An investiture in the presence of the Taiwanese vice-president
Among the personalities present were the Brazilian presidents Lula, Chilean Gabriel Boric, Argentinian Alberto Fernandez, King Felipe of Spain, as well as the Taiwanese vice-president William Lai. Paraguay is one of 13 countries in the world, and the only one in South America, to recognize Taipei, where Santiago Peña visited in July.
The new head of state also reaffirmed that Paraguay under his presidency would seek everywhere “horizontal agreements” with “a geostrategic vision”. But he stressed the special relationship with Taiwan, among the “nations with which we feel not only allies, but brothers”.
Colorado Party in power for seven decades
This former Minister of the Economy, who notably worked for the Central Bank of his country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was elected president on April 30, perpetuating a seven-decade hegemony of the Colorado Party (right) at the head of Paraguay. . Throughout his campaign, and since his election, he has had to defend himself from the stigma associated with his political mentor and active supporter, former president (2013-2018) Horacio Cartes, whom he paid tribute to in his speech on Tuesday. .
Horacio Cartes, a tobacco tycoon, was described in 2022 as “significantly corrupt” by Washington, which banned him from entering or transacting in the United States, a country that has historically been an unwavering ally of Paraguay. This agro-exporting country with enviable prosperity in Latin America (more than 5% growth expected in 2023) but steeped in inequality, is also under the growing influence of drug trafficking and plagued by corruption. It was ranked 137th out of 180 countries by the NGO Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.