Asunción, Agencia IP.- During an encounter with students of Georgetown University, President Santiago Peña indicated that one of his initiatives as Head of State is «to be a strong voice of Paraguay’s defense» and to reduce the gap between the perception that people have about the country and its reality.

«There is a lot of room to improve the perception of what Paraguay is doing,» he said.

An example of this is the position of the democracy index from The Economist, where it showed a reduction in its punctuation during the last few years, «which I can assure does not reflect reality,» said the President. He added that changing this perception requires participation in the view of international organizations and other countries. 

He reminded that the elections of 2023 had one of the highest electoral participation in recent years, and observation missions from the European Union and other organizations found no irregularities during the process.

«I know that there is a gap between our perception of the country and reality—something I want to do as President is reaching out to international organizations. To be a stronger voice in defense of Paraguay,» he said.

Political participation and defense of democracy

The President shared his experience in the political arena and his conviction of the need to be involved in this system as the only way to achieve change. “If I have to leave a message, don’t lie to people. And it is the most difficult thing for a politician to say: ‘I can’t’ or ‘this can’t be done’.”

«Knowing how to say ‘no’ also includes not promising things that cannot be fulfilled.» The Head of State indicated that his electoral campaign was based on his fight against populism (from the left or the right, he added) and against polarization. 

Regarding democracy, he indicated that the country can compare 35 years of dictatorship, the longest in South America, with 35 years of democracy. «The results are surprising,» so «I feel a moral obligation to defend democracy,» he said.

«I see Paraguay as one of the most active democracies in the region, and I know it is hard to see it from the outside because the Colorado Party has been in power for many years, but the country itself faced moments of renewal,» said President Peña.

When being consulted by one of the students regarding the narratives of the dictatorship period, Peña pointed out that in the country, «We still do not understand the importance of democracy as a political system.» He also said that it is impossible to evaluate Alfredo Stroessner’s regime without first understanding the previous 70 years to that period when the Triple Alliance War ended and was «an open-air cemetery.»

«We had a period of strong political instability. With all its negative aspects in human rights and freedom, the dictatorship broke Paraguay’s instability. We must understand that,» he expressed. «So, I think the younger generations will be able to look analytically at that time.»

Anticorruption plan and integration agenda

Another topic that was discussed during the conversation was the anticorruption plan that the Government would launch and will work coordinately with the Legislative and Judicial branches, along with the Prosecutor’s Office and the General Comptroller in long-term actions to face corruption, «an endemic problem of society,» as the President said.

«I obtained a majority in both chambers of the Congress: Majority in the Senate and Deputies. If I have to think that I have a lot of power, I would say that I do not need the others. But in democracy, you need all the other branches of power. So, I say let’s work together, think a plan, and have a huge impact in the cultural change about how we fight corruption», he stated.

He explained that his Government proposal is to join efforts and think collectively to achieve the expected changes in the next five years.

Added to those above, maintain solid public policies, such as the ones that characterized Paraguay, and aim for regional and international integration.