Su Excelencia
Santiago Peña
Peña in 2023
52nd President of Paraguay
Assumed office
15 August 2023
Vice PresidentPedro Alliana
Preceded byMario Abdo Benítez
Minister of Finance
In office
5 January 2015 – 5 June 2017
PresidentHoracio Cartes
Preceded byGermán Rojas
Succeeded byLea Giménez
Personal details
Born
Santiago Peña Palacios

(1978-11-16) 16 November 1978
Asunción, Paraguay
Political partyColorado (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations		PLRA (1996–2016)
Spouse
​
(m. 1997)​
[1]
Children2
ResidenceMburuvicha Róga
EducationCatholic University of Asunción
Columbia University (MA)[2]
Websitewww.santipresidente.com

Santiago Peña Palacios (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo ˈpeɲa paˈlasjos]; born 16 November 1978) is a Paraguayan politician and economist who is the 52nd and current president of Paraguay since 2023. In addition to his political career, Peña has served on leadership boards for the Central Bank of Paraguay and Banco Amambay.[3] He has also taught economics at the Catholic University of Asunción, and has published research papers on monetary policy and finance.[4]

Peña is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay, and former minister of Finance of Paraguay.[5] He previously stood as a candidate in the Colorado Party's presidential primary in 2018, where he lost to Mario Abdo Benítez, who went on to be elected president in the 2018 general election. He later won the party's nomination for president in the 2023 general election, in which he ultimately won.[6][7] Peña was a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party between 1996 and 2016, when he joined the Colorado Party.[5]

Early life

Peña Palacios was born on 16 November 1978 in Asunción, Paraguay to Jose Maria Peña Nieto a Paraguayan and Ana Maria Palacios from Argentina. He has two brothers Manuel and Francisco Peña.[8]

Education

Peña holds graduate degrees from Universidad Católica "Nuestra Señora de la Asunción" (2001) and the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (2003).[9][10]

Economist (1999–2014)

Peña joined the Industrial Development Fund as an analyst in 1999 and served as an economist at the Central Bank of Paraguay from 2000 to 2009.[9]

He was appointed as one of the four directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay in 2012, leaving his job at the IMF.[11]

Minister of Finance (2015–2017)

Horacio Cartes picked Peña to replace German Rojas as finance minister in 2015, following Rojas's resignation on personal grounds. As Peña took office, Cartes described him as a "bright young man" who would reinvigorate Paraguay's economy in the face of low global soy prices and a slow regional export market.[11]

Joining the Colorado Party

Peña joined the Colorado Party on 29 October 2016, having previously been a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) from the age of 17. Peña's membership in the Colorado Party caused controversy, with reports that he only joined the party after Horacio Cartes announced his intention to dismiss members of his cabinet who were not party members.[5] Peña released a statement stating he had joined the party due to its focus on developing Paraguay, and claimed to be the descendent of one of the party's founders, Jaime Peña.[12] Following this, an electoral court annulled Peña's membership to the PLRA.[13]

First presidential run and return to the private sector (2017–2022)

In 2017, Peña ran for the Colorado Party's presidential candidacy in the 2018 general election, ultimately losing out to Mario Abdo Benítez,[14] with Abdo Benítez winning 564,811 votes (50.93%) to Peña's 480,114 (43.29%).[15]

Following his defeat in the Colorado Party's internal elections in 2017, Peña was elected to the board of Banco Amambay in March 2018. The bank was part of the Cartes Group, which was owned by former President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes, for whom Peña had served as minister of finance.[3]

Academia

In 2004, Peña taught as an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of Asunción, teaching financial theory. In 2005, he became a professor of economic policy at the same establishment.[4] In addition, Peña has contributed to several researches on monetary policy and finance fields. In 2017, he was invited by the Professor and current Ecuadorian ambassador to Chile Roberto Izurieta to participate as a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Political Management of the George Washington University, where Peña shared his experience on public administration in Paraguay.[16] He also was the thesis advisor of Geovanny Vicente, CNN columnist and professor at Columbia University.[17][18]

Presidency (2023–present)

In 2022, Peña ran successfully to stand as the Colorado Party's presidential candidate; he was widely seen as the candidate most closely aligned to former president Horacio Cartes, while his opponent, Arnoldo Wiens, was aligned with Abdo Benítez.[19][20] Critics of Peña have said that if elected president, Horacio Cartes would be a grey eminence and that Peña would merely act as a mouthpiece for Cartes. Colorado Party politician Blanca Ovelar said Peña would end up acting as a "secretary" to Cartes if he was elected.[21] Cartes and his supporters in Congress had previously attempted to pass a constitutional amendment to allow Cartes to run for re-election, sparking riots in the country.[22][23]

Peña was elected President of Paraguay, after winning 43.9% of the vote in the 2023 general election in April. He was congratulated by outgoing president Mario Abdo Benítez, and presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Alberto Fernández of Argentina.[24] Peña called for unity to address the economic challenges the country is currently facing. Peña was inaugurated on 15 August 2023.[25]

Political views

By the time of the 2023 election, Peña was considered a conservative politician who opposes the legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage.[26] In May 2017, Peña had stated that he was in favor of same-sex marriage, while saying in regards of abortion that he was open for it to "be discussed in a sincere environment and without prejudice".[27] He reversed position shortly afterwards following criticism from conservative sectors.[28] During his 2023 campaign, he promised to create 500,000 jobs. He also ruled out raising taxes; this was criticized by The Guardian, who wrote that Paraguay is "having an underfunded state and the lowest tax burden in South America, which greatly benefits society's wealthiest."[26] In May 2023, Peña announced that he intended to move the Paraguayan Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after being sworn in as president;[29] a move that was previously made by Horacio Cartes in 2018 but reversed by Mario Abdo Benítez later that year.[30]

In February 2023, Peña said in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo that the military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner had resulted in "more than 50 years of stability in Paraguay".[31] Peña further asserted that Stroessner, who came to power as a result of a coup d'état, had come to a power as a result of a "political agreement".[32] Peña's comments were criticised by opposition politicians and activists, and he was accused of trying to attract conservative and ultraconservative voters within the Colorado Party.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Se casó con su primera novia, fue padre a los 17 y 24 años después ya está listo para ser abuelo: la historia de amor de Santi Peña". La Nación (Paraguay) (in Spanish). 9 September 2022. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Santiago Peña, precandidato a presidente de Paraguay: "Mario Abdo utilizó todas las herramientas para perseguir a sus adversarios"". Infobae (in Spanish). 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Santiago Peña será miembro del Directorio del Banco Amamblay". Última Hora. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Curriculum vitae". Ministerio de Hacienda (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Peña se afilia al Partido Colorado para seguir como ministro". Última Hora (in Spanish). 29 October 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Paraguay finance minister Peña to run for president: ruling party". Reuters. 29 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "Paraguay: el cartismo ganó en las elecciones primarias del Partido Colorado". La Diaria (in Spanish). 19 December 2022. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "La caída de la mamá de Santiago Peña al llegar al Palacio para el acto de asunción de su hijo - Política". abc.com.py. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Santiago Peña Palacios | World Bank Live". live.worldbank.org. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "News & Stories". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  11. 1 2 Desantis, Daniela (2 January 2015). "Paraguay finmin quits, replaced by 'bright young' central banker". Reuters. Asunción. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Por qué me hice Colorado: el extenso descargo de Santiago Peña". Ñandutí (in Spanish). 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Juzgado electoral anula afiliación de Santiago Peña al PLRA" [Electoral court annuls Santiago Peña's affiliation with the PLRA]. La Nación (in Spanish). 4 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Elliott, Lucinda; Desantis, Daniela (26 April 2023). "Paraguay presidential hopeful Santiago Pena seeks to be calm amid political storm". Reuters. Asunción. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023. Members of the Colorado Party…were unconvinced that Pena's slick city appearance and time in Washington would go down well with voters and he lost out to current president Mario Abdo Benitez in the 2018 primary election contest.
  15. ↑ "En un duro revés para Horacio Cartes, un senador disidente ganó las primarias presidenciales en Paraguay" [In a hard setback for Horacio Cartes, a dissident senator won the presidential primaries in Paraguay]. Infobae (in Spanish). 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ↑ Barros, Laura (19 December 2022). "Partido Colorado elige a Santiago Peña candidato y a Horacio Cartes de líder". Swissinfo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  20. ↑ "Se definieron las primarias en Paraguay: el delfín de Horacio Cartes será candidato a presidente en 2023". Infobae (in Spanish). 18 December 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  21. ↑ "Duras críticas de Blanca Ovelar a Santiago Peña". El Trueno (in Spanish). 15 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  22. ↑ Romero, Simon (31 March 2017). "Protests Erupt in Paraguay Over Efforts to Extend President's Term". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "'A coup has been carried out': Paraguay's congress set alight after vote to let president run again". The Guardian. London. 1 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  24. ↑ Elliott, Lucinda; Desantis, Daniela (1 May 2023). "Paraguay's conservatives score big election win, defusing Taiwan fears". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  25. ↑ "Santiago Pena, Paraguay's new president, faces tricky balancing act". Reuters. 15 August 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  26. 1 2 Costa, William (27 April 2023). "Paraguay looks for change as election looms. But that's not on the ballot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023.
  27. ↑ "Peña está a favor del matrimonio igualitario" [Peña in favor of marriage equality]. Última Hora (in Spanish). 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  28. ↑ Lezcano F., Juan Carlos (30 October 2017). "Antes sí ¿ahora no?" [Before yes, now no?]. RDN (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Netanyahu, Paraguay's Santiago Peña talk embassy move to Jerusalem". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  30. ↑ "Outcry from Israel after Paraguay moves its Jerusalem embassy back to Tel Aviv". The Guardian. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  31. ↑ "Santiago Peña elogió la dictadura de Alfredo Stroessner". Última Hora (in Spanish). 28 February 2023. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  32. ↑ "Dictadura de Stroessner: con estas fotos ironizan el "acuerdo político" al que se refería Peña". ABC Color (in Spanish). 1 March 2023. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  33. ↑ "A Santiago Peña "le borraron su memoria", afirman por su elogio a Alfredo Stroessner". Última Hora (in Spanish). 1 March 2023. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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