Conservative Colorado party comes back to power in the elections in Paraguay

In the elections held on Sunday, Santiago Pena of the ruling Colorado party got elected as president of Paraguay with 43% votes. The opposition party candidates Efrain Alegre got 27% and Paraguay Cubas got 23%. 
 
The elections were peaceful and the results were accepted by the losers promptly unlike what happened in US or Brazil. 
 
Pena, relatively young at 44,  was finance minister from 2013 to 2018 when his mentor Horacio Cartes was President. He was a member of the board of the Central Bank of Paraguay. He was also in the board of a bank owned by Cartes who is the current chairman of the Colorado party. He had taught economics in a university in Paraguay and had worked in IMF. He went to Columbia University, New York for his post graduation.

 
Pena’s Colorado party has got majority in the senate with 23 out of 45 seats and in the lower house as well with 47 out of 80. The party has also won 15 of the 17 governorship of the provinces. This means that President Pena will rule comfortably for the next five years without any fear of impeachment by opposition parties in the Congress, as has happened in some Latin American countries including in Paraguay. President Fernando Lugo, the leftist president was impeached by the Congress dominated by Colorados in 2012 on a flimsy charge. He was the first and last outsider to be elected in 2008 as president of Paraguay which has been ruled by the Colorado party for the last seven decades. The Colorado party is a rightist conservative party of the oligarchs which has perpetuated inequality in the society. 
 
Paraguay, with a population of 6.7 million, is relatively a poor backward country. Its economy is stable with a vibrant agribusiness sector. It has surplus electricity from the Itaipu dam jointly owned with Brazil. It exports electricity to Brazil.
 
The victory of the ruling Colorado party stands out against the recent trend of anti-incumbency results in Latin America. The right-wing Colorado party’s win also goes against the regional trend of election of Leftists to presidencies of many countries in the region. 
 
The United States had publicly accused Cartes as corrupt and banned entry for him and his family into USA. The accusations include money laundering and links to Hezbolla terrorist organization. Although this had come in handy for the opposition campaign, it did not make any difference to the voters who are used to the corrupt political system of the country. 
 
Paraguay is the only South American country which continues to recognize Taiwan. The opposition candidate Alegre had promised to change recognition from Taiwan to China.  In early April, the outgoing president had inaugurated a Taiwan-financed road project for 24 million dollars. 
 
Paraguay is a member of the regional group Mercosur whose members include Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. India has signed PTA (Preferential Trade Agreement) with Mercosur. 
Last year, India’s exports to Paraguay were 211 million dollars and imports 16 million. The trade will go up in the coming years with the recent opening of Indian embassy in Paraguay.