Paraguayan President Santiago Peña said on September 9 that there is no break with Horacio Cartes, president of the National Republican Association (ANR), the Colorado Party, and attributed some of the criticism of the government to the proximity of the municipal elections on October 4.
“There is no break,” Peña said during a ceremony to hand over homes under the Che Róga Porã housing program in Limpio. The statement came after recent comments by Senator Gustavo Leite of the Honor Colorado movement, a faction led by Cartes, who called for improvements in the administration and said the party would need to deliver results to remain competitive.
Peña also rejected the interpretation that a request for information from the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP), the institution responsible for supervising and regulating the financial system, was a political message aimed at him. The request, announced by Congress President Basilio Núñez and Honor Colorado caucus leader Natalicio Chase, concerns operations involving Ueno Bank, an institution with which the president was previously associated. Carlos Carvallo, the current president of the BCP, was the bank’s president before taking charge of the monetary authority.
“The questions have to be answered, and the doubts have to be clarified,” Peña said. He added that the BCP has “all the legal powers and all the tools” to carry out the work and described the search for hidden motives in the request as an attempt to create discord.
In the health sector, the president backed continued negotiations with doctors who are threatening to stage another strike on September 21 and 22. The group rejected a government proposal and recorded hundreds of resignations by specialists, while a special Senate committee monitors the crisis. Peña acknowledged that the pay adjustment cannot benefit all groups to the same extent because of budget constraints, but said the government is working toward a consensus.
Responding to criticism, the president said some sectors help seek a solution, while others remain “in the stands throwing stones.” The metaphor was directed at opponents and critics who, he said, offer suggestions without taking responsibility for decisions.
Peña also cited investments in medicines, school meals, books and infrastructure to defend his administration. Regarding Paraguay’s decline in reading and science performance in the 2025 PISA assessment compared with 2022, he said the effects of education policies can only be measured over the long term.