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On April 30, some five million citizens are called to the polls in what is considered one of the youngest democracies in South America: Paraguay will decide who will be its new president in the midst of a tense electoral climate. Why are these elections predicted as a close encounter that could mark the turn of Paraguayan politics? We analyze it in this edition of El Debate.
Who are the main characters in these elections?
On the one hand, there is Santiago Peña, from the National Republican Association, known as the Colorado Party, a traditional bench of Paraguayan politics. On the other, Efraín Alegre, from the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, who arrives leveraged by a group of opposition parties gathered in the so-called National Concertation.
They also dispute the presidential seat Paraguayo Cubas, for the National Crusade Party; Euclides Acevedo, from the New Republic Movement; and José Luis Chilavert, from the Youth Party, remembered for being the goalkeeper of the Paraguayan soccer team and one of the most outstanding athletes in Latin America in recent decades.
Maintaining or reinforcing the foundations of democracy in Paraguay due to high voter apathy is one of the challenges facing these elections. Well, few identify with the proposals and candidates.
The intervention of the United States due to sanctions and judicial requirements of former President Horacio Cartes, an exponent of the Colorado Party, has modified the electoral environment, which is reflected in the fragmentation of the ruling party.
Whoever reaches the Presidency will receive a country with a high debt, poverty, corruption, conditions of very great inequality, insecurity, the impact of groups linked to drug trafficking and an economy that is growing at a good pace, among other aspects.
In this edition of El Debate we make a general analysis of the electoral climate in Paraguay in view of the presidential elections from the hands of our guests:
– Katia Gorostiaga, teacher and researcher on democracy and political institutions, PhD in social science research with a mention in political science and master’s degree in social sciences from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) Mexico.
– Camilo Filártiga, lawyer, master’s degree in political studies, teacher and researcher at the Catholic University of Asunción.
