The triumph of Santiago Peña in Paraguay and the necessary impulse for Mercosur

Santiago Peña has been elected President of Paraguay.

The Colorado Party continues, as almost always,

.

It is presumable that a renewed team -in age and training- will face the new challenges that are presented to the Mediterranean country.

Paraguay has achieved, in the last 20 years, great stability, with a permanent improvement in its economic and social statistics as well as low country risk and a comfortable Reserve in its Central Bank.

Two issues loom as questions: 1) Its future relationship with Mercosur and 2) The continuity of its relationship with Taiwan and/or the establishment of relations with the People's Republic of China.

Both issues are directly linked

and, some affirm, that Paraguay must modify its current relationship with Taiwan in order to be able to link up with Continental China.

Santiago Peña, new president of Paraguay.

AFP photo

The relationships

Let's separate the wheat from the chaff.

Regarding Mercosur, I have no doubt that Paraguay's future relations with Brazil and Uruguay will continue

, beyond the diversity of ideological signs.

In the case of Argentina,

….and I am not talking about the ideological link, but rather the sure improvement that Argentina will have in its links with the world, so deteriorated during Kirchnerism (with the exception of some dictatorships, the pondered Chinese attitude, in defense of its own loans and works in progress, and the responsible attitude of the IMF and the North American Treasury so as not to push us towards a default that from being virtual, could become real).

Since 2010, China has been offering Mercosur the chance to sit down, first at a feasibility analysis table and, later, to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement.

Celebrations in the streets of Asunción.

AFP photo

Since that date, there have only been two meetings to harmonize a common agenda between our region and China.

To date, it has been impossible to move in that direction.

It has not been for lack of Chinese interest,

for Paraguay to alter its current link with Taiwan (it has always considered it an internal Mercosur issue).

Talks

I am sure that, with the leadership of Brazil, we will advance in the perfection of an FTA with the EU -already signed and pending parliamentary ratification on both sides of the Atlantic- resolving some adjustments to what has already been negotiated (with a clear prioritization of energy issues and a solid environmental agreement).

Likewise, as President Lula da Silva announced during his visits to Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Beijing,

The continuous, plus the "new" winds that are blowing in Paraguay, will be a reinforcement to mobilize the, until now, restrained

, the most closed of all in the world.

If, in addition to the winds, we row hard and put our intelligence in motion, we will achieve trade, investment and tourism flows for the region that will modify our future on the path of economic and social progress.

Former Argentine ambassador to the United States, the EU, China and Brazil.

look too

Elections in Paraguay, the day after: after a night of celebrations, Santiago Peña consolidates victory with a majority in both chambers

Elections in Paraguay: Mercosur, single currency, waterway and Itaipu, the issues that Santiago Peña will have to sit down to discuss with Brazil and Argentina