ASUNCIÓN (AP) — With a mixture of weariness and uncertainty about the result, Paraguayans chose the next president on Sunday in a contest between the conservative Colorado Party and a coalition of heterogeneous political and social forces that came together to remove him from power for a second time in 76 years.
As of seven in the morning, 15,380 electronic machines were enabled in schools throughout the country to receive the vote of 4.7 million voters. For the first time, this mechanism was used at the national level to elect the successor to President Mario Abdo Benítez in a single electoral round for the period 2023-2028.
The president, who does not have the right to re-election, was one of the first to vote.
“May the great winner be the Paraguayan nation. Everyone’s participation is very important, today is the day we have to be protagonists in building the future of the nation,” said Benítez.
A diverse coalition of opposition political and social forces sought to dethrone the party that had been in power for the longest time in South America, in elections marked by allegations of corruption and the advisability of maintaining or not maintaining the alliance with Taiwan.
The conservative Colorado Party has ruled since 1947, including as the political support of dictator Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), with the exception of a brief period of progressive tinge led by ex-bishop Fernando Lugo in 2008 and ended early in 2012 with an impeachment trial. .
Its candidate is Santiago Peña, a 44-year-old economist who was sponsored by former president and magnate Horacio Cartes (2013-2018), the strongman of Paraguayan politics who was recently declared a “significantly corrupt person” by the United States.
“Today we define a country model,” Peña said in a message read at his campaign command before voting. “We choose a Paraguay that plans its future to take the big leap we need or a country that navigates improvisation.”
The main challenge to the hegemony of the Colorado Party appears the Agreement for a New Paraguay with the candidate Efraín Alegre, 60 years old and leader of the traditional Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) and staunch opponent of Cartes.
Alegre, who is in his third attempt to reach the presidency, is supported by numerous political and social organizations from the center-right to the left that seek to capitalize on the social disenchantment due to endemic corruption, lousy health and education services exposed during the pandemic of COVID-19 and insecurity in the face of the advance of drug crime.
“We know who we are up against. We are going to defeat abundant money that comes from organized crime and illegality, ”Alegre told reporters at his party offices. “Our adversary is not the Colorado Party but the dirty money of organized crime.”
Local media reported minor incidents in some Asunción schools between supporters of both forces over the placement of the ballot boxes. The skirmishes did not escalate due to the intervention of the police.
This situation contrasted with a generally apathetic and colorless campaign, in which there were no large mobilizations or mass events, which many analysts attributed to the difficulties of the ruling party to finance the campaign for economic sanctions against Cartes, the current president of the Colorado party. . The disinterest of the majority of citizens in the electoral process was also marked, which was especially palpable among young people.
According to the accusation of the US Department of State, the ex-president engaged in “acts of corruption before, during and after his term.” He also denounced that he collected bribes from Hezbollah, considered by the United States a terrorist organization. The tobacco businessman, who also owns banks, the media and gas stations, among other businesses, denies the charges. The agency froze his assets and prevented him from operating in its financial system.
The polls would close at 4:00 p.m. local time and the results were expected to be announced two hours later.
A factor that adds uncertainty to the result is the low citizen participation in the elections -on average between 60% and 63% of the register vote-. Analysts agree that absenteeism, especially marked among young people between the ages of 18 and 30, plays in favor of the ruling party.
Paraguay boasts a relatively stable economy, but with structural problems that were out of the question during the campaign: labor informality that affects 7 out of 10 workers; poverty of 24.7%, tax evasion and drug trafficking, among others.
In a discreet electoral campaign in proposals, one of the points of greatest controversy between the candidates has been the alliance with Taiwan, an issue in which geopolitics are intertwined with the interests of Paraguayan soybean producers and ranchers who want to sell to China.
Opposition member Alegre announced that if he wins, the relationship with Taipei will be reviewed.
If this were to happen, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory would lose another partner in the region after Honduras severed diplomatic relations with China to recognize Beijing. In turn, China would expand its influence in Latin America, something that the United States considers high risk.
For his part, the official Peña ratified the alliance with Taiwan.
