MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay's FM to resign his job and run for president

Acevedo will turn in his resignation in the coming days

Paraguay's Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo Friday announced he will be stepping down shortly to run in the primary elections for the country's presidency. It will leave President Mario Abdo the task of appointing a fifth official to that post during his 4-year term.

“I am a pre-candidate, but if someone gauges better than me, I will go behind him,” Acevedo said.

Less than 1 year and 3 months into his tenure as FM, Acevedo has announced his return to the electoral arena. He will resign as soon as he has arranged some pending engagements, the minister explained.

Acevedo plans to enter the 2023 elections on behalf of the New Republic movement, a formation promoted basically by the Febrerista Revolutionary Party (PRF), a socialist, polyclassist, and democratic movement, according to Paraguayan media.

According to uncorroborated press reports, Acevedo intends to bring along Cordillera Governor Hugo Fleitas (liberal) as his running mate. They would compete in the primaries of the PLRA (Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico) against Efraín Alegre.

Acevedo also explained that at this stage his movement was focused “on a programmatic unity, not just candidacies.” He also explained his political force was “looking to include everyone,” but he warned that “there is no room for the petty, the resentful [or] those who are moved by discrimination...”

The current minister plans to run for the presidency but would not mind stepping aside if there is a better candidate. “It doesn't matter what position you play; the important thing is the team and it has to go in to win and win.”

President Abdo now needs to appoint yet a new Foreign Minister, the fifth during his administration, after Luis Alberto Castiglioni (August 2018 to July 2019), Antonio Rivas Palacios (July 2019 to October 2020), Federico González (October 2020 to January 2021) and Acevedo (January 2021 to April 2022).