Senator Carlos Núñez Agüero, of the ANR, has returned to the Honor Colorado movement after six months away. The confirmation was made this Friday by the president of the National Congress, Basilio "Bachi" Núñez, who reported having received a call yesterday from the deputy leader of the cartista caucus in the Senate, Senator Antonio Barrios, communicating the reinstatement.
According to Bachi, the decision came after a meeting between Carlos Núñez and the president of the ANR and leader of Honor Colorado, Horacio Cartes. Núñez himself published a photo on social media alongside Cartes celebrating a "republican embrace."
Carlos Núñez had left the cartista caucus in November 2025, along with Senators Erico Galeano and Alfonso Noria, to form an independent bloc called "11 de Setiembre," in reference to the founding date of the Colorado Party. At the time, the cartismo lost its own majority in the Senate.
The disagreements occurred mainly with the Minister of the Interior, Enrique Riera, whom the senator accused of irregularities in promotions within the National Police. Núñez also denounced that President Santiago Peña offered him around 50 public positions in exchange for not leaving the ruling party.
Bachi Núñez stated that both Carlos Núñez and Riera are "people of dialogue" and expressed confidence that it will be possible to resolve the differences. The president of Congress assessed that the return strengthens the caucus and the majority needed to approve Executive bills.
In addition to Carlos Núñez, Bachi announced that he will work to ensure that Senator Lilian Samaniego also returns to the ruling party and did not rule out the return of other lawmakers, such as Alfonso Noria. He attributed the movement to the results of the municipal primaries on June 7, in which Honor Colorado prevailed in most cities.
Among the senators who make up the dissidence are Mario Varela, Blanca Ovelar, Luis Pettengill, Óscar Salomón, Juan Afara, and Arnaldo Samaniego. According to Bachi, the trend is for the return movement to expand.