Santiago Peña

Santiago Peña Palacios (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo ˈpeɲa paˈlasjos]; born 16 November 1978) is a Paraguayan politician and economist who is the president-elect of Paraguay following the 2023 general election. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay, and former Minister of Finance of Paraguay.[3] 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.[4][5] Peña was a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party between 1996 and 2016, when he joined the Colorado Party.[3]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Peña and the second or maternal family name is Palacios.
Santiago Peña
Peña in 2017
President of Paraguay
Designate
Assuming office
15 August 2023
Vice PresidentPedro Alliana (elect)
SucceedingMario Abdo Benítez
Minister of Finance of Paraguay
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
Leticia Ocampos
​
(m. 1997)​
[1]
Children2
EducationCatholic University of Asunción
Columbia University (MA)[2]
Websitewww.santipresidente.com

In addition to his political career, Peña has served on leadership boards for the Central Bank of Paraguay and Banco Amambay.[6] He has also taught economics at the Catholic University of Asunción, and has published research papers on monetary policy and finance.[7]

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).[8][9]

Economic career

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.[8]

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.[7]

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.[6]

Early political career

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.[3] 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.[10] Following this, an electoral court annulled Peña's membership to the PLRA.[11]

Colorado Party internal elections

In 2017, Peña ran unsuccessfully to be the Colorado Party's presidential candidate in the 2018 general election, ultimately gaining 482,649 votes to Mario Abdo Benítez's 567,592 votes. 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 Cartes, while his opponent, Arnoldo Wiens, was aligned with Abdo Benítez.[12][13]

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;[14] however, in May 2017 Peña 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",[15] before reversing position following criticism from conservative sectors.[16] 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."[14]

Presidency

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.[17] Peña called for unity to address the economic challenges the country is currently facing. Peña will be inaugurated on 15 August 2023.[18]

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.
  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.
  3. "Peña se afilia al Partido Colorado para seguir como ministro". Última Hora (in Spanish). 29 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. "Paraguay finance minister Peña to run for president: ruling party". Reuters. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. "Paraguay: el cartismo ganó en las elecciones primarias del Partido Colorado". La Diaria (in Spanish). 19 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. "Santiago Peña será miembro del Directorio del Banco Amamblay". Última Hora. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "Curriculum vitae". Ministerio de Hacienda (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  8. "Santiago Peña Palacios | World Bank Live". live.worldbank.org. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. "News & Stories". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. "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.
  11. "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. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  12. Barros, Laura (19 December 2022). "Partido Colorado elige a Santiago Peña candidato y a Horacio Cartes de líder". Swissinfo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  13. "Se definieron las primarias en Paraguay: el delfín de Horacio Cartes será candidato a presidente en 2023". Infobae (in Spanish). 18 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  14. Costa, William (27 April 2023). "Paraguay looks for change as election looms. But that's not on the ballot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  15. "Peña está a favor del matrimonio igualitario" [Peña in favor of marriage equality]. Última Hora (in Spanish). 10 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  16. Lezcano F., Juan Carlos (30 October 2017). "Antes sí ¿ahora no?" [Before yes, now no?]. RDN (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  17. Elliott, Lucinda; Desantis, Daniela (1 May 2023). "Paraguay's conservatives score big election win, defusing Taiwan fears". Reuters. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  18. "Paraguayans see Pena as 'ideal' president to boost economy". Reuters. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
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