2023-05-01 00:28:31
The candidate of the ruling right-wing Colorado party, Santiago Peña, won the presidential election in Paraguay. As the electoral authority announced on Sunday after counting 96 percent of the ballot papers, the 44-year-old economist and former finance minister received more than 42 percent of the votes. His challenger Efraín Alegre, who competed for the center-left alliance Concertacion, came up with 27.5 percent.
Polls had predicted a close race between Peña and his main rival Alegre. The Colorado Party has ruled the South American country almost continuously for seven decades and is plagued with corruption allegations, which Alegre denounced during the election campaign.
Peña will take office in August. Head of state Mario Abdo Benítez, who has been in office since 2018, did not stand again. The constitution of the country, which returned to democracy in 1989, only allows the heads of state one term.
The approximately 4.8 million eligible voters were also asked to vote on a new parliament and 17 governors.
Paraguay is plagued by many massive problems. Located between Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil, the country is a transit area for drug smuggling; Corruption and poverty are rampant.
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