An audit by the Comptroller General’s Office presented to Congress on August 31 found payments exceeding G. 50 billion to more than 11,000 deceased retirees at the IPS, alongside a G. 624 billion discrepancy in inventory, while public doctors continue mobilizing for better wages and working conditions.
Senado de Paraguay
The Senate is the upper chamber of Paraguay's Congress. It votes on laws, appointments, and oversight measures, making it a central arena of national politics.
Senator Gustavo Leite proposed reducing public spending by up to US$400 million a year, including an incentivized voluntary retirement program for up to 100,000 public employees, merging redundant agencies and freezing hiring. The figures and effects are Leite’s projections, and implementation still depends on financing, executive decisions and negotiations.
The Senate is reviewing an agreement that could allow Paraguayans and Qataris to enter, transit through and stay in each other’s territory for up to 90 days without visas or fees, subject to approval by both houses of Congress, as the government expands its economic and trade agenda with the business sector.
Paraguay's Senate approved National Evangelical Church Day for the last Sunday of October, without creating a public holiday or requiring the date to be added to the school calendar. IELPA and IERP challenge the name and historical rationale; the bill will still be reviewed by the Chamber of Deputies.
Environmental organizations and citizens protested a bill by lawmaker José Rodríguez that would change protections for Médanos del Chaco National Park to allow mining and hydrocarbon extraction, risking contamination of the Yrenda aquifer, Indigenous communities and biodiversity, while the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development recommends rejecting it.
The Rutas del Este consortium, formed by Sacyr and Ocho A, has received US$374 million since 2022 for the concession of the PY02 highway in Paraguay under a public-private partnership, with funds coming from tolls and top-ups from the National Treasury, while critical sections of the road remain without definitive solutions.
The National Traffic and Road Safety Agency of Paraguay will implement a point system on driver's licenses starting January 2027, aiming to penalize reckless drivers and suspend those with risky behaviors.
The Paraguayan Chamber approved in general a bill to increase corruption penalties to up to 25 years, but postponed the final analysis sine die, amid criticism about the contradiction between official discourse and parliamentary practice in combating this crime.
After the sixth death in the Pedrozo accident, Minister Claudia Centurión ordered the removal of the traffic light at the location within 30 days.
The municipality of Ciudad del Este is preparing a local ordinance and a bill is moving through the National Congress to regulate the circulation of electric scooters, aiming to reduce accidents following their increased use.
President Santiago Peña proposed career diplomat Estefanía Laterza de los Ríos to the Senate as Paraguay's ambassador to the US, filling the vacancy left by politician Gustavo Leite.
Paraguay's Congress automatically approved a reform that maintains a differentiated and more advantageous parliamentary retirement regime compared to the general pension system.
Paraguay integrated its police databases with Interpol for real-time queries, while Parliament debates a bill granting police access to private security cameras.
Former Senator Enrique Bacchetta alerted the Chamber of Deputies in 2020 about doubts regarding Hernán Rivas' law degree, whose trial for using a false document reveals certificates with serious spelling errors and testimony from a former university rector who claims to have signed it inside a car without ever seeing Rivas attend classes.
The Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies approved a bill declaring April 14 as National Vorí Vorí Day and analyzed a proposal to declare the Virgin of Caacupé festival as intangible cultural heritage.
A bill redirecting 500 billion guaranis from spending considered superfluous to purchase medicines is stalled in the Paraguayan Senate due to lack of opinion from the Finance Committee, which did not meet, revealing an internal division within the ruling party.
Paraguay's National Electricity Administration (ANDE) maintains suspended two strategic financial projects — energy sales to Brazil and a $198 million bond issuance — while focusing efforts on internal debt renegotiation programs and warning about the inclusion of defaulters in the Equifax credit bureau.
Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies will decide next Tuesday whether to insist on or archive the bill, already rejected by the Senate, that grants police access to private security camera footage.
Paraguay's Ministry of Economy will begin a comprehensive review of the public budget and seek a loan to settle accumulated debts with Health Ministry suppliers.
Police inaugurate identification agency at Asunción Port to decentralize services, while the president of the IPS warns of an imminent healthcare crisis with the application of a law that reduces doctors' working hours and will affect around 2,000 professionals starting in September.
Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies debates a bill to eliminate the fee charged by Opaci on driver's licenses, facing resistance from cartismo, while proponents allege the private entity generated millions with the system and practices political patronage.
Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies approved a bill modifying the 2026 budget to grant tax exemptions for imports related to Events of International Sporting Relevance, sending the proposal to the Executive Branch for approval.
President Santiago Peña enacted the law that approves the bilateral agreement with Japan to promote and protect reciprocal investments, establishing rules for legal security and dispute resolution.
Colorado leader José Luis Rodríguez Robertti multiplied his salary in Paraguay's Congress nearly 20 times over 13 years, moving from a contract employee in the Chamber of Deputies to a director in the Senate.