Paraguay: Santiago Peña, a neoliberal under the leadership of the Colorado Party, takes office | A profile of the new president

Santiago pen, Paraguay’s new president, has Argentine roots. His mother, Ana María Palacios, was born in Buenos Aires and was the niece of Alfredo Palacios, the first socialist deputy of the United States. He Horacio Cortés’ former finance minister Reigning for five years from the Lopez Palace in Asuncion, he is a 44-year-old economist who completed his training in the United States and returned to develop his political career with the IMF. First as a member of the main opposition Real Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) and later as an operative in the state apparatus under the dominance of Coloradismo.

Called by the discussants cards 135 years on September 11 was to consolidate that power A meteoric rise. According to his detractors, this is due to his laxity in working with the former president, a billionaire whom the US government has defined as “significantly corrupt”. Peña usually avoids mentioning this controversial sponsorship.

Escorpiano, he was born on November 16, 1978, two years after his parents moved to the capital of Paraguay. His two older brothers are from Argentina, as is his mother. He graduated from the Catholic University of Asuncion, taught at the same university, and moved to the United States in 2001. In a recent interview conducted by Marcelo Dinelli at his home, He declared that he developed his character in the game. He played rugby and was a member of his country’s national team. Accustomed to the strict discipline of the contact sport, he said he does not like to face or respond to grievances. His mother said in a newspaper report Nation He recalled that he was “readable and very nice”.

Already elected president, he wondered if he would rule Paraguay: “How can 500,000 be below the poverty line in a country that produces food for 80 million people in the world? Henceforth it should aim to solve these kinds of structural problems, although it is a Liberal economist He announces an adjustment in line with the classic principles of his former employer, the IMF.

Basilio, one of the most influential senators of the Colorado party Bacchi In recent reports on what to do with the state of Peña, Núñez chimed in: “This government – since Mario Abdo Benitez is leaving – put 70,000 officers, we’re going to get rid of 30,000 officers, and instead of planners, we’re taking it to the children. The funding agreement from the EU is being withdrawn because the school He noted that lunch items would be lost.

A brand new president is a true product of collaborative power Colorado party. He has been a member of the PLRA for 21 years – almost half of his life – when he decided to change course and join the ruling party when he was a member of the Cortes cabinet (2013-2018). The National Republican Association, the official name of the ruling force, has been in power for almost 70 years without a break. His massive electoral machinery, which had 2,616,424 constituents as of December 2022, allowed him to install the young Pina in the presidency.

Jorge Coronel Brosman, a Paraguayan historian specializing in socioeconomics at UNICAMP in Brazil, says: Page I12 “The Colorado Party is both the ruling party and the opposition.” Author of books like Intermission and workers strike And The Last of the Street Cars, or How Stronismo Destroyed the Electrical Industry Union, says Colonel Brosman Peña had to deal with three problems: “The duality of power between him and CortesSimilar to what already happened in Paraguay with President Wasmosy and Lino Oviedo is being repeated; Growing conflict of social movements with landowners And the threat of sacking of government officials and the concern that there is a thirdInternal dispute within the Colorado party”.

Godfather cards

The new president has an additional complication on his government agenda. The condition of his political father. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) charged Cortés in a document dated Jan. 26. “There are,” he pointed out Corrupt practices Before and after his tenure as President of Paraguay,”

Politically conservative, nationalist, but pro-market like any self-respecting neoliberal, Peña has announced that Paraguay will reopen its embassy in Jerusalem. During an event in Asuncion, he appeared with representatives of the Aliados de Israel Foundation (IAF), an organization that advocates for parliamentary support in the United States and several Latin American countries.

A fan of Club Olimpia, like CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez, attended the match where his club knocked out eventual champions Flamengo from the Copa Libertadores last week. Pena’s arrival in government interrupted a second wave of progressive forces in the region, which, with subtleties, became a more visible trend after the victories of Gustavo Pedro in Colombia and Lula in Brazil. He visited the latter in Brasilia at the end of July, describing the meeting as “excellent”, adding: “We talked about the agreement between the EU and Mercosur and the strategic issue like Itaipu. We want to work together in these years.

He has similar issues to discuss with Argentina from Yasireta to Hydrovia. After the PASO election results, it is impossible to predict who will be your interlocutor today.

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