Paraguayan president and Biden adviser discuss corruption, Venezuela and Ukraine

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña met Thursday in Washington with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, to discuss opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the countries.

The meeting, which took place on Wednesday at the White House, served as an opportunity for Peña and Sullivan to address “opportunities to strengthen the deep relationship» between Paraguay and the United States, adds the statement from the Joe Biden Administration.

The meeting addressed common issues in economic matters, security, safeguarding democracy, strengthening institutions and fighting corruption, all of which are topics that both Administrations define as priorities in their external and internal agendas.

They also discussed US private sector investments in the South American country and Paraguay’s intention to join the Alliance for Economic Prosperity in the Americas, an initiative launched by Biden and which includes several countries in the region such as Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

“We are not here to ask for donations, but to be put on the map and to help the country gain greater visibility, especially in terms of its potential. Paraguay has very good macroeconomic figures.“, he said during a meeting with American legislators.

Speaking to Infobae, the Paraguayan president expressed his concern about the growing presence of the Chinese Communist Party in Latin America through strategies such as financing public works, granting soft loans and opening up its commercial markets, and terrorist groups and criminal gangs.

“China’s influence is growing and that is very worrying. Many countries decide to strengthen their ties with China because they have no other choice. We have seen this in Venezuela. China’s influence came as a consequence of Venezuela’s economic weakness.“, he said while mentioning that although “Hezbollah’s terrorist operations have decreased, we have to keep our eyes open”.

The Paraguayan leader, who took power in August 2023, maintains a foreign policy aligned with that of the United States.

Following his visit to the United States, Peña will travel to Taiwan to attend the inauguration of the island’s president-elect, William Lai (Lai Ching-te). Paraguay is the only South American country that has official ties with Taipei.

Paraguay has also spoken out against two resolutions approved by the United Nations General Assembly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and another endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in favour of the Palestinian right to self-determination and an “independent State of Palestine.”