El Nacional

Rocío Vallejo submitted a draft resolution requesting that the MOPC provide information on the background, tenders, progress, costs, financing, possible obstacles and timeline of the Tren de Cercanías, a project relevant to metropolitan mobility and regional connectivity. The text will still be reviewed by Chamber of Deputies committees.

Sami Pajari won Rally del Paraguay 2026 for his third consecutive victory of the WRC season. Diego Domínguez Bejarano won WRC2 at home, while Santiago Peña said he would work to bring more competitions to Paraguay; Pedro Alliana presented Andrea Lafarja as the first Paraguayan woman to reach a World Rally Championship podium.

Paraguay is home to 15 Manihot taxa, six of them endemic, including Manihot takape, described in 2018 through a research project on wild relatives of economically important crops.

The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) seized 30 7.62 mm FAL rifles hidden beneath provisions in a pickup truck in Pedro Juan Caballero and detained two brothers suspected of preparing to send the weapons to Brazil, while Paraguay’s arms sector calls for a review of import procedures and authorizations.

A bill introduced in Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies proposes an integrated policy to research, preserve, teach and disseminate information about Acosta Ñu and the Campaign of the Cordilleras. The measures remain proposals subject to legislative review; the text would also bring together dispersed legal and institutional instruments and create an ad honorem technical committee.

Mercosur held the first round of talks with Vietnam in Buenos Aires on a preferential trade agreement aimed at expanding market access, diversifying exports and fostering investment.

A project presented in the Chamber of Deputies proposes declaring a bridge over the Paraguay River in Puerto Antequera to be of national interest, connecting San Pedro with the Chaco and the Bioceanic Corridor. The initiative does not approve construction, but could create a logistics alternative between the Eastern Region and the international corridor.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a forensic examination at Copaco to investigate the alleged diversion of more than 1.1 billion guaraníes through fictitious payments to the Municipality of Asunción and transfers to personal accounts.

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.

Paraguayan courts have definitively confiscated Darío Messer’s assets, including companies, real estate, vehicles, livestock and accounts, while prosecutors investigate seven offices in Hernandarias transferred to Banco Atlas through a trust.

Paraguay’s Interior Minister Enrique Riera said the armed group EPP will be eliminated and the three abducted people who remain missing — Edelio Morínigo, Félix Urbieta and Óscar Denis — found by the end of his term. Former minister Francisco de Vargas warned that the group retains operational capacity and called for stronger security forces.

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.

A doctors’ strike in Paraguay enters its fifth day with 39 pediatric surgeons threatening to resign from Monday, while the government proposes a phased 76% increase over 14 months and lawmakers disagree over funding sources.

Santiago Peña has proposed turning Paraguay into a regional logistics hub by expanding the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway and the Bioceanic Corridor, improving air connectivity and modernizing institutions. The government’s goal is to gradually double the volume of river cargo.

Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the courts to annul 144 demonstrably forged teaching diplomas and subsequently cancel the professional registrations linked to them. The investigation covers 525 suspicious documents and could hold beneficiaries, institutions and public officials involved accountable.

Women account for 16% of mayoral candidacies in Paraguay’s 2026 municipal elections, up from 12.9% in 2021, while they represent 32% of registrations for Municipal Councils, according to the Supreme Tribunal of Electoral Justice, which is providing training to expand women’s political participation.

Paraguay exported 75 products to 43 new destinations between January and July 2026, including biodiesel to Singapore, in a diversification drive that generated US$5.5 million from that shipment, according to Rediex data.

Operation Mirage detained five Brazilians in La Paloma, Canindeyú, and seized weapons, ammunition, electronic devices and two vehicles reported stolen in Brazil. Police are investigating possible links to the PCC and counterfeit medicines.

Petropar has begun selling Jet A-1 and AVGAS in Paraguay, with one plant operating in Encarnación and plans for five facilities through a public-private partnership that does not require direct state investment in infrastructure.

Paraguay’s Ministry of Education and Sciences restricted the registration of diplomas without accreditation and launched RUE-ES as the trial of Hernán Rivas revealed that his law degree was registered in six minutes after an alleged “higher-up order,” despite irregularities—an allegation denied by former minister Eduardo Petta.

Paraguay’s national doctors’ strike suspended nonurgent consultations and surgeries for a second day as the National Medical Union demands pay increases, job stability and better conditions, while the government and Congress seek negotiations amid budget constraints.

Paraguayan doctors began a five-day national strike, suspending consultations and elective surgeries, to demand a salary adjustment, an end to precarious contracts, and the replenishment of supplies, while the government claims a lack of resources to meet the demands.

Paraguay's Food Bank holds its annual dinner on Wednesday, August 26, at 8 p.m. in Asunción to raise funds that will finance the distribution of 76,500 meals to people in vulnerable situations.

Payment volume in Paraguay doubled in one year, driven by the massive adoption of instant transfers, which moved $14 billion in July alone.