MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peña highlights Paraguay's progress and Argentina's lack thereof

In addition to his accolade in leadership, Peña met with high-ranking White House officials to discuss global affairs

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña highlighted his country's “remarkable growth” and “flourishing democracy” in contrast with Argentina's mercurial performance. He made those remarks late Wednesday upon receiving the “CHLI Founders Award for International Leadership” during the Annual Gala and Leadership Awards in Washington DC.

“Just to give you an idea of how the region went through, we have countries like Argentina that have removed 16 zeros from their currency during the same period of time,” Peña explained while underlying that a low-tax fiscal system and open economy allowed “the youth of my country to grow, develop and reach sustainable levels of development.”

Peña also underscored Paraguay's “commitment to continue working to achieve sustainable levels of development based on democracy and freedom” whereby the country became “the beacon of Latin America and the world.”

In that scenario, Peña said that his administration prioritized bilateral ties with the United States. “We have had a great relationship since always with the government and the administration, the State Department, the Treasury, under different administrations. But we don't spend time in dialogue with Congress and we recognize that this is a shortcoming, a problem that we have to overcome,” he said.

The head of state then noted Paraguay's geographical position halfway between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. “I intend and our generation aspires for Paraguay to leave behind not only the image of isolation of a landlocked country but of a population that wants to integrate with the rest of the world,” Peña argued.

Also during his stay in Washington, Peña met with White House Advisors Jake Sullivan, Daniel Erikson, and Chris Dodd. Over the encounter, which also featured Paraguayan Ministers Rubén Ramírez Lezcano (Foreign Affairs), Javier Giménez (Industry and Commerce), and Gustavo Villate (Information and Communication Technologies), current international affairs in Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine were reviewed.

“These meetings allow us to project a much higher level of bilateral relations. We are working on the transfer of knowledge, technologies, and the training of police officers. This allows us to move forward in other aspects,” Ramírez Lezcano told reporters.