Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies reelected Camilo Benítez Aldana as head of the Comptroller General’s Office, with 64 votes, for a new term from November 1, 2026, to 2031. In the same extraordinary session, lawmakers elected Armindo Torres as deputy comptroller; Augusto Paiva, of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), received 16 votes.
The Comptroller General’s Office is the constitutional body responsible for overseeing the use of public resources, state assets, budget execution, and the State’s economic and financial activities. Its leadership influences the selection of audits, oversight of authorities, public bodies, and state-owned companies, and the referral of potential irregularities, affecting public accountability during the five-year mandate. The comptroller general and deputy comptroller are chosen by Congress from shortlists: the Senate selects and forwards the list, and the Chamber makes the final appointments.
The vote took place on September 1, after the Senate selected and forwarded on August 26 the list comprising Benítez, Mabel Bogado Oviedo, and Carlos Vera Ruiz. The process began with 49 candidates and ended with 36 names after evaluations, withdrawals, and absences from public hearings. In the Chamber vote, Bogado Oviedo received two votes.
Senator Líder Amarilla challenged the possibility of a new candidacy for Benítez, arguing that it was incompatible with constitutional rules on the length and continuity of the office. The objection was not upheld after a legal opinion by Emilio Camacho supported a different interpretation: Benítez would initially have completed a term begun by another authority and only afterward served a full term. Based on this interpretation, his supporters considered reelection the only additional term permitted by the Constitution; the legal controversy was nevertheless recorded during the proceedings.
The result placed the two main positions at the Comptroller General’s Office with members of the Colorado Party (ANR). The available reports do not establish that all parliamentary caucuses linked to Honor Colorado voted for both selections, but they document cartismo’s support for Benítez’s continuation and Torres’s nomination. Cartismo is led by former President Horacio Cartes.
Torres, 43, a native of Escobar in the department of Paraguarí, had headed the Directorate-General of Sworn Asset and Income Declarations since May 2019. The department tracks changes in the assets of officials and authorities.
The governing party justified Benítez’s reelection by citing results attributed to his administration. Hugo Meza said that more than 1.6 million sworn declarations, with files dating back to 2008, had been put online; he also cited 1,217 asset-analysis reports, compared with 256 under previous administrations—an increase of 375%—as well as 1,073 completed disciplinary proceedings and 1,003 fined employees. The same argument highlighted the resumption in 2020 of the special audit of Itaipu, suspended since 2012, whose final report was reportedly completed in 2021. These figures require verification against a primary report or clear attribution to the official legislative justification.
The opposition offered a different reading. Rocío Vallejo said that an office led by two Colorado Party members reduced the pluralism that, in her assessment, should exist in a watchdog and checks-and-balances institution. The opposition protest was not uniform: some lawmakers announced that they would leave the chamber, others actually walked out, and others stayed to criticize the decision. The lack of a quorum for the regular agenda led to the extraordinary session being called. Critics said concentrating both posts in the ANR weakens institutional checks and balances; this is a political assessment, not an established legal conclusion.