Paraguay People Hope New President Santiago Pena Could Reboot Economy

Paraguayans were divided on giving the conservative Colorado party another five years of rule. Still, they did hope that Paraguay President-elect Santiago Pena would revitalize the country's farm-driven economy.

With 42.7% of the vote, 44-year-old economist Pena easily defeated his opposition competitor by 15 points, ensuring another five-year term for the Colorado Party in power.

Additionally, voters gave the Colorados a larger majority in both houses of Congress, expanding the number of seats won by the state compared to the 2018 election. Fifteen of the country's seventeen governorships are held by party members.

Beatriz Candia was out cleaning the streets of Asuncion on a more quiet Monday due to the May 1 Labor Day holiday, following a night of celebration and fireworks outside the party's main headquarters in the city center.

"For me personally, Santiago Pena is a person who could contribute a lot to the economy of our country (by) putting things in place in macroeconomic terms," Candia told Reuters.

Pena addressed the economic difficulties of the landlocked South American country in his victory speech.

"We have a lot to do, after the last years of economic stagnation, of fiscal deficit, the task that awaits us is not for a single person or a party," Pena stated on Sunday, calling for "unity and consensus."

Paraguay Citizens Doubt Paraguay Ex-President's Influence on President-elect Santiago Pena

With his landslide victory in Paraguay's presidential election, conservative Santiago Pena not only reinforced the long-ruling Colorado Party's grasp on power but cast doubt on the future role of his influential political mentor, who has been suspected of corruption by the US, AP reports.

With 23 of 45 Senate seats and 48 of 80 members in the lower house, the Colorado Party, which has led Paraguay almost continuously since 1947, will likewise control Congress. It also took 15 of the 17 governorships that were up for grabs.

Pena approached the stage in celebration of his victory and openly honored former President Horacio Cartes, whom he credited with helping him reach the top of his field.

While Pena acknowledged in a TV interview on Monday that Cartes "will continue to be a decisive figure in Paraguayan politics," he vowed to have "zero interference in the justice system" as president beginning on August 15.

Washington has accused Cartes, who served from 2013 to 2018, of "significant corruption," including bribing government officials and lawmakers and having ties to terrorism.

The State Department announced in January that Cartes expanded his political and economic clout over Paraguayan institutions by using the vast sums of money and influence he had amassed via illegal means.

The US imposed economic penalties against Cartes for alleged corruption and connections to Hezbollah, which it categorizes as a terrorist group, harming Pena's presidential candidacy. Pena served as finance minister in Cartes' government.

Pena has termed the claims "groundless," while Cartes, the president of the Colorado Party, has refuted them.

Paraguay President-Elect Santiago Pena

Former central banker Santiago Pena defeated center-left leader Efrain Alegre to become president of Paraguay.

He was a former economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a personal favorite of the strong leader of the conservative Colorado Party, according to Al Jazeera.

Paraguay President-elect Santiago Pena is the fresh face of an old organization and is known as a person who always smiles and is affable.

"Santi" became a dad at 17 when his then-girlfriend, Leticia Ocampos, got pregnant with their first child.

He pursued his education despite becoming a parent at a young age but acknowledged that this "difficult" period impacted the trajectory of his political career.

When Pena became a father at a young age, his family strongly urged him to continue his studies. He earned a BA in economics from a school in Paraguay and an MA from Columbia University in New York.

After that, he became an economist at the Paraguayan central bank in Asuncion before moving to Washington, DC, to work for the IMF.

He eventually moved back to Paraguay and joined the country's central bank board.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Santiago Pena wins Paraguay election after hard-fought campaign - From Al Jazeera English