Security & Strategic Review - August 2023

Santiago Peña takes over as president of Paraguay on 15 August. Although he is from the same Asociación Nacional Republicana-Partido Colorado (ANR-PC) as the outgoing head of state Mario Abdo Benítez, they are from rival factions within the ruling party as Peña is a ‘Cartista’, a protégé of former president Horacio Cartes (2013-2018). Complete continuity is therefore not a given, although Peña has so far indicated that he will stand by his predecessor’s foreign policy line on two key relationships, those with Taiwan and the US.