Paraguay’s ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Leite, has confirmed his involvement in negotiations to secure a direct flight between Asunción and Miami, including a proposal for state financial support to airlines. In a statement reported by Ultima Hora, Leite said that in October 2025 the government, through the National Directorate of Civil Aviation (Dinac) and with backing from President Santiago Peña, made a counteroffer to American Airlines worth $5 million plus additional benefits for four weekly flights. The offer was not accepted.
Leite argued that such incentives are common for new international routes until they become profitable, citing Air Europa as a precedent. He then said he consulted Peña about more convenient alternatives, leading to talks with Brazilian carrier GOL Linhas Aéreas. According to Leite, GOL expressed interest in operating the route with a different state-support scheme: up to $300,000 per month for one year, but only if the route incurred verifiable operating losses, subject to specific contractual controls.
“Clearly, $5 million fixed is less convenient than financial support that is eventually smaller and tied to proven losses,” Leite said in the statement. He added that Peña approved the initiative during a meeting at Mburuvicha Róga with GOL executives, and that the Public Works Minister Claudia Centurión and later Tourism Minister Angie Duarte handled subsequent steps. The project ultimately did not go ahead.
Leite denied reports that he proposed “mortgaging” state assets to seal the deal. “I did not propose mortgaging anything,” he said, insisting he only secured a more favorable offer than the government’s initial proposal to another airline. He attributed part of the failure to a recent rise in fuel prices and lamented that Paraguay still lacks a direct air link to the United States. Leite, who will return to the Senate in July, said he would make a statement on the matter “only once.”
In February, he had announced that the direct Asunción-Miami flight was “almost a done deal.” However, Dinac head Nelson Mendoza contradicted Leite, stating that the agency does not have the authority to pay subsidies to attract airlines. “They asked for a postponement; we asked if it was about canceling the flight, and the request was for postponement due to the increase in fuel,” Mendoza told Ultima Hora.