By R. Viswanathan (*) - Horacio Cartes of the Colorado party won the presidential elections held last Sunday in Paraguay. The Colorados had ruled the country continuously for 61 years in a one-party dictatorship until 2008 when Fernando Lugo, the leftist “Bishop of the Poor” defeated the Colorado candidate and made history.
United States, Peru and Chile among others extended their congratulations to president-elect Horacio Cartes and to the Paraguayan people for the ‘extraordinary’ Election Day last Sunday and their significant turnout in such special circumstances.
President-elect Horacio Cartes said that even when some aspects of Mercosur can be improved it “would be utterly nonsense” to abandon the block since it generates many jobs in the country, attracts investment and is an opportunity to open markets.
Brazil conditions the immediate return of Paraguay to Mercosur to the approval, by the new congress, of Venezuela’s full incorporation to the trade block, according to the influential Folha de Sao Paulo quoting foreign ministry reliable sources.
In his victory speech Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes said he expects to win the confidence of all the Paraguayan population and called on the opposition to work for the good of the nation. He also had a direct reference to the neighbouring giant saying he wanted to work with Brazil, a ‘brother-country’.
President-elect Horacio Cartes is one of Paraguay's wealthiest men with businesses in tobacco, finance, farming, retail and the soft drinks industry among others. Brash and ambitious, Cartes had never voted before joining the conservative Colorado Party in 2009.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez congratulated Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes for his ample victory in Sunday’s election and said Mercosur was waiting for the return of the country to the trade block.
Millionaire businessman Horacio Cartes won Paraguay's Sunday presidential election, returning the powerful centre-right Colorado Party to power after a brief spell started in 2008 ended in impeachment last year. Cartes won with a 9 or 10 percentage point lead over Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal Party, the head of the country's electoral tribunal said.
“We’re optimistic about Sunday’s election and the future of Paraguay if we can agree on long term state policies, but something is for certain: democracy in Paraguay is here to stay” said Ricardo Caballero Aquino, Chargé d’affaires of the Paraguayan embassy in Montevideo who was also positive about future relations with Unasur and Mercosur.
Paraguay will be electing a new president on Sunday and its re-incorporation to the Union of South American Nations, Unasur could happen under the new government anticipated Salomon Lerner, chief observer of the regional group.