Polls open in Paraguay elections, with Taiwan ties in the balance
Al JazeeraPolling stations have opened across Paraguay as voters pick a president they hope will tackle endemic corruption, rising crime and economic inequality, with the election potentially impacting the country’s future ties with Taiwan. When asked about the Paraguayan equivalent of Colombian drug lord Escobar, Alegre responded: “Cartes, he is the Pablo Escobar of Paraguay and his hand-picked candidate, Santiago Pena is ‘El Chili’, Escobar’s right-hand man,” Alegre said. Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from the capital of Asuncion, said that after two failed attempts to run for president, “Alegre seems confident he will be third-time lucky. His campaign slogan is, ‘a choice between the mafia or the nation.’” “Cartes is one of Paraguay’s wealthiest and most powerful men, who was sanctioned by the US in January for ‘rampant corruption that undermines democratic institutions’ and alleged ties to drug trafficking and Hezbollah,” Newman said.
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