Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today.
“One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Paraguay, a landlocked country of 6.1 million people, punches above its weight geopolitically as one of the last remaining countries that maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
China has steadily whittled down Taipei’s allies in Latin America amid rising tensions with the US.
Honduras, Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic broke ties with Taiwan and switched to Beijing in recent years.
Trump’s US Department of State stands to have some of the deepest policy experience in Latin America of any recent US administration.
He tapped Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, while Mauricio Claver-Carone would return as one of the president’s top advisers on Latin America.
Trump also picked Christopher Landau, a former US ambassador to Mexico, as deputy secretary of state.
US Congressman Mike Waltz is set to become a national security adviser and has called for the US to counter China’s inroads in the region.
Rubio, who visited Pena last year in Asuncion, praised Paraguay during his confirmation hearing as an example for the US to encourage in the region.
“I also think it’s important to recognize allies in the region, like Paraguay, that have not flipped,” to China, Rubio said on Wednesday last week.
That is indeed music to Pena’s ears as he’s crisscrossing the world in search of foreign investment for Paraguay, making more than three dozen trips abroad since taking office a year and a half ago.
Paraguay has remained one of the region’s more stable nations politically and economically in recent years despite volatility in Argentina and Brazil next door.
Pena pitched his country as a destination for investments by US technology companies. He also wants the Trump administration to grant Paraguayan beef an import quota with preferential tariff treatment.
In the interview, Pena said he does not have a bilateral meeting planned with Rubio, who is still awaiting confirmation by the US Senate, but Pena attended a gala dinner on Saturday night hosted by the incoming top diplomat.
Pena is also campaigning for Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruben Ramirez to lead the Washington-based Organization of American States.
Pena’s neighbor, Argentine President Javier Milei, would also attend the inauguration, and is pushing for their trade bloc, Mercosur, to let Argentina independently negotiate a trade deal with the US.
Pena pushed back against a bilateral US-Argentina trade agreement, as Mercosur requires all countries in the bloc to negotiate together.
However, he conceded that Mercosur, which Milei labeled a protectionist “prison” last year, needs reforms.
“We need to revitalize the bloc. I’m not happy with the current situation. I think nobody’s happy,” Pena said, without detailing reforms he supports.
“Mercosur countries are better off negotiating as a bloc than individually. Either you maintain the bloc and you negotiate as a bloc or you dissolve the bloc and negotiate bilaterally,” he added.
Pena’s visit to Washington to attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony caps a tumultuous four years for the bilateral relationship under US President Joe Biden.
He added that during his visit he would not address US sanctions brought against his political ally, former Paraguayan president and Colorado Party chairman Horacio Cartes, who faces allegations of corruption and ties to Hezbollah.
Cartes, one of Paraguay’s wealthiest businessmen and whose patronage was key to Pena’s landslide victory, has denied the accusations.
Pena criticized the sanctions as motivated by false information, but said it was a personal matter for Cartes.
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