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Why Paraguay's elections matter [1]
['El Surti']
Date: 2023-05-09
This article was originally published by El Surti and republished by Global Voices under a partnership agreement between these media outlets. Global Voices added contextual paragraphs.
On April 30, Paraguay held its general elections, in which Santiago Peña of the ruling conservative party, Partido Colorado (Colorado Party), won 42.7 percent of the vote amidst a campaign fraught with disinformation. Partido Colorado will therefore maintain its rule of the country it has led for the last 76 years, except for the period from 2008 to 2013.
In these elections, Peña stood against Efraín Alegre and his opposition conservative coalition, Concertación Nacional. On May 3, supporters of the former Paraguayan senator, Paraguayo Cubas, who came third in these elections, condemned their “monumental fraud” and clashed with police in Asunción. However, no evidence of fraud was documented by the authorities or international bodies monitoring these elections.
Although these elections may go unnoticed outside this country, they are still of international significance in terms of international relations, climate change, and renewable energy. Here are some of the reasons why these elections matter both nationally and internationally:
Because it involves China:
Paraguay is the only South American country to still have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, there is an increasing internal demand to open up relations with China. China is Paraguay’s main source of imports, thus accounting for 30 percent of its total in 2021.
China views Taiwan as a renegade province and maintains that this island nation has no right to establish state-to-state relations. This stance thereby requires that any country with which China establishes diplomatic relations also enforces it.
According to the economist, Fernando Masi, “there would have been more chance establishing diplomatic relations with China, over the next five years, with Alegre’s government, than with that of Santiago Peña.” For the time being, President-elect Peña vows to maintain his official relations with Taiwan.
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