Paraguay's Presidential Election Results: Impact on Taiwan Ties

Santiago Peña, the candidate of Paraguay's ruling party, has won the presidential election with a 15-point lead over his centre-left rival, Efraín Alegre. Peña has pledged to maintain Paraguay's longstanding diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which had been under threat from Alegre's proposal to switch allegiance to China. The election result also saw the conservative Colorado party win 15 of the 17 governorships up for election and majorities in both the senate and the lower house. Peña now faces the challenge of reviving Paraguay's farm-driven economy, shrinking a major fiscal deficit and navigating rising pressures from soy and beef producers to ditch relations with Taiwan in favour of China and its huge markets.