Paraguay can be a response to a Latin America that is experiencing the crisis of its political parties, said presidential candidate Santiago Peña, who trusted the victory of the Colorado Party in the general elections of April 2023, in a regional environment in which they returned to emerge progressive leaderships.
Source: EFE
Peña, who prevailed on December 18 in the internal elections of Coloradism, also minimized the division that this election could have caused within the ruling party, against the image of an opposition unit in his country.
PROGRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT
“In reality, Paraguay can be a response to a Latin America in crisis, and the crisis is caused by the crisis of the political parties,” stressed the economist.
He thus referred to the possibility of his triumph in a region that has once again leaned towards progressive leaders, phenomenon before which he defended the tradition of the Colorado Party or National Republican Association (ANR).
“There is no democracy without political parties; So, I believe that there is a crisis of representation in Latin America, to a large extent because the political parties have not been able to interpret and adapt to the changes,” argued Peña, for whom Democracy is “by far the best political system.”
In his opinion, The Colorado Party, which he assured brings together 55% of the electorate in the country, “has been able to understand” the changes.
“A party that sustained 35 years of dictatorship, but it was also the party that removed the dictatorship from power and has been the great protagonist throughout the transition of these years,” he said.
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“And what more renewal than a person affiliated with another political party, without a track record and militancy, today on the verge of being the next president of the Republic,” he added, alluding to his candidacy.
COLORED DIVISION
He recahsó the image that was projected during the campaign for the inmates of a division “much bigger than there really is” within the government party, in contrast to the unity of the opposition tents.
“The Colorado Party is much more united and stronger than what people perceived and the opposition is much more divided than what people perceived,” Peña clarified, for whom, “certainly, they wanted to magnify” the differences between the Colorados.
In the official internal elections, Peña, from the Honor Colorado movement, headed by former President Horacio Cartes (2008-2013), faced Arnoldo Wiens, from the Fuerza Republicana faction, backed by the current president, Mario Abdo Benítez, for the presidential candidacy.
“There is no questioning of the electoral process,” highlighted the current candidate, for whom the process of unity of the Colorado Party “in reality, not in speech, is taking place in a very, very accelerated way.”
USA AND AN EVENTUAL GOVERNMENT
If his electoral victory materializes, Peña assured that as president he plans to “maintain a very close economic, diplomatic and political tie” with the US., mainly in the fight against corruption, which he considered one of the “biggest scourges” facing the country.
“Paraguay values the agenda that the US has, the agenda of President Joe Biden to fight corruption head-on; So, for us it is essential that they can support us in that, ”he added.
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He was also open to deepening the relationship with Brazil, which he anticipated will not focus solely on the binational hydroelectric: “Itaipu is important, but our history and our present and future is much more than Itaipu”, narrowed.
In the same vein, he guaranteed that, if he became President, “Paraguay will continue to be an ally of Taiwan”, and will seek, at the same time, to increase the trade flow with mainland China, as a market from which his country is supplied.
“Paraguay is the most open economy in Latin America, we are part of the Mercosur bloc, but apart from that we are a country that maintains very strong continental ties with the US, with Europe, with Asia,” he said.
