Internal party elections serve as critical power struggles where ruling parties must demonstrate continued hegemony while dissident movements attempt to prove electoral gains; the 2026 Paraguayan municipal primaries revealed that the Colorado Party's Cartism faction maintained dominance through state resources and organizational machinery, while low voter turnout (37%) reflected citizen fatigue with political outcomes, and electoral irregularities including hidden cameras, false accreditations, and cash distribution highlighted systemic vulnerabilities in democratic processes.
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Internas municipales 2026: Las claves y resultados de la jornada electoral
Added:Very good afternoon, day of the red inmates. Here we will report everything that has happened on this intense day, a historic day for our country because new candidates are being chosen from the different parties and today, June 7th, Sunday, the main contest within the Colorado party, which is the one with the most important struggle, is the control of the different movements. The ruling party will have to demonstrate that it maintains its hegemony, and the various other dissident movements will also have to demonstrate that they have really managed to gain more ground in the electorate in recent years, since the last elections. So it was a very busy, historic day, and I'm with my colleague Natalia, who is already here by my side, who will report on everything that happened on this election day. How are you, Nati? Welcome. Good afternoon to all our streaming followers, and it's really important to be able to have this turnout of votes again, which defines what our country would be, [clears throat] which is nothing less than the most important thing, right? And well, we're seeing several incidents being reported, uh, in the capital, and also in various parts of the country, and some polling stations were even closed, I understand, due to irregularities, and there are also more arrests. They are also mentioning us; nine arrests were reported, more or less, according to the prosecutor's office. We understand that there were electoral crimes there that were reported. Those were the reasons. Clear.
Oh, and the main candidates voted too. We see that they voted and spoke, the president Santiago Peña, also the deputy Raúl La Torre, who are the ones vying for Asunción. For example, Raúl La Torre is a very important figure because he is the campaign manager for the ruling party, so he is extremely important.
Sure, sure. We saw that Zacarías Irun also forgot his ID card. Justo Zacarías Irun, the picturesque fact of the day, eh, forgot his identity card, he couldn't vote immediately, he said, "Hey, bring me the backpack." He sent him. " What a mess," he said himself, referring to the media and the phrases. Yes, that was very picturesque. So everything happened, and what can we say about the reported incidents?
Of course, one very striking thing was that a mini-camera was detected on a voting table in a school on YouTube. Okay, at the Dr. Felipes Molas López school.
Uh, that was a regularity detected on Sunday morning and that's why voting had to be suspended at that table, for example, which is something extremely serious, they even caught that there is a mini camera, a mini camera.
What could have been the objective? That is, controlling the votes, controlling the polling station members in or were the ballot box, it was found in the ballot box. So, clearly they wanted to control and verify the loyalty of their voters by identifying them, right?
Exact. In other words, that they actually went to vote, that they actually fulfilled their promise. Uh, we don't know, but we do know what the dynamics are, especially of the Colorado party, which, uh, has a step-by-step process, let's say, these days. of elections.
They go beforehand talking to the people who are affiliated with their party, block by block, they have their leaders, they go, here it's called arreo, but they are transfers that the leaders do, they transport their voters to the polling places, right? It's a way of pampering their electorate, where they first build rapport, asking them to vote for so-and-so or vote for so-and-so, and then making that promise. So, let's say that's one of the ways to move that machinery, and well, there we see a little camera. That's where you told me on YouTube.
YouTube.
That's how it is. Another very peculiar thing was that the mayor of Belén promised to raffle off a car after his win in the primaries, just like you heard.
In other words, Javier Peralta, with all due respect to the Colorado Party, how many resources do you need to make available? We do n't know if that's declared to the electoral authorities, an asset that will be used in the campaign and for what purpose, uh, to attract more people because of the interest of winning a car, I mean, how many other incentives were there? We don't know. Sure, but it was something really very controversial and that is being talked about a lot now, especially because what it does is mutate the very essence of the vote. Voting should be voluntary, it should be for an idea, for a project, for a person who truly inspires trust and integrity. So, we don't know how legal the use of an economic incentive might be, right?
Clear. And that it's nothing more and nothing less than a car. This is the first time I've heard of this, so it's definitely a striking fact, to say the least. What else has been reported? Yes.
And I was also observing a very striking fact within this dynamic of the elections, uh, the arrest of a pre-candidate for councilor who had cash on him. This happened in Fernando de la Mora and it was worth something like 3,200,000 guaraníes. We know that within traditional parties, especially the Colorado party, the leaders usually have access to cash that is distributed within their teams, whether for legal or illegal purposes.
lawful. We're talking about providing breakfast, paying for fuel or transportation, but we also know that other types of incentives are given, right?
So this is a very striking fact, the fact that this cash was found in a bag belonging to a pre-candidate, so it is at least striking. Other events that we were reporting, yes, there was a power outage in some areas, including the elections in Chacó. That also happened in Puerto Casado, specifically in Alto Paraguay, where there was a power outage for about 10 minutes, right? And then, uh, it would be at the Juan Yolas school polling station and also all of Paraguay in the sack, right?
Yes, there were also some mishaps. That's what we were seeing minute by minute. We were very struck by the fights that are happening internally.
It's really something, and also there isn't much police presence, they're telling us that in some places it's very much adrift, so to speak, and people are also asking for more security in those places because anything can happen, you don't know how far that kind of fight can go, right? clashes, which is really something that also needs to be addressed by the State, to reinforce security in public educational institutions.
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely at the polling stations.
That's how it is. And I was noticing, since you mention the fact of the lack of a very important resource which is the National Police in these cases. Um, we also observed that in some polling places, I understand that also in Chaco there were people who could not access the vote independently because they did not speak the language, for example. That is a limitation. They didn't speak Spanish, they needed assistance with that, they didn't quite understand how it worked.
In other words, this does n't speak to the limitations of the individual, but rather of the State, because the State must have control over this and must guarantee that voting is truly accessible. In other words, having two official languages and not considering that a person who does not speak Spanish might come to vote and not understand what is being conveyed to them is a serious matter because it limits that person's right to decide due to the fact that the voting instrument, the ballot, is not provided in the language they are speaking.
Exact. Or the ballot itself, right? In other words, we must consider that there are people who have that limitation, that access to education or language, and it is very valid that they manage with a language that is Guarani, it is very valid and the state must consider it.
only then are all the little papers in Spanish.
Exact. And that's what we were able to observe, at least that's what our correspondents reported. So it's super busy in that sense. There was everything. So, of course, of course. We also have information from the prosecutor's office at 11:38 that the prosecutor's office is also giving alleged false accreditation before the start of voting in Asunción. That's very important. How did that happen? Uh, it detects that there were people who had accreditation, fake accreditations, right there at the table.
Prosecutor Sandra Leesma, from the electoral crimes unit, arrived at the Brasil school in the nearby capital. Yes.
To verify the complaint of false accreditation before the opening of the primary elections.
[snort] And it's also really striking that what happens here can happen in any institution and it's not being controlled. Of course, that was identified.
That was identified. In other words, how much could have gone unidentified, right? Because what these people are trying to do, as far as can be understood, is to infiltrate polling places illegitimately in order to operate, to control, that is, they were not accredited, but they use a falsified document to be able to enter the premises where they were not authorized. Another very serious thing they were saying was that the accreditation made reference to the student university movement, but that it was not issued by the party tribunal.
Imagine what was denounced by the Colorado Honor movement, right?
It was verified and the corresponding report was drawn up, and the corresponding investigation is also being carried out, right?, regarding this incident, as you were mentioning, Rut, as happens in this institution. What about the other locations? Yes, indeed there are many irregularities that have not yet been confirmed in other polling stations, right?
Sure, sure. That is to say, at this time, at 4 pm, the polling stations were already closed. The voting has ended.
People who had already entered to vote before closing time and are in a queue can vote even though the deadline has arrived, because they entered before the gates closed. So, in most places the voting has already closed, right?
The gates were closed and we apparently had very little participation. Nati, I think less than 40% for everything that happened in the match.
How much exactly? 37%.
Yes, that was the 4 PM cutoff and in the second cutoff, which was the 1 PM cutoff, it was mentioned that only 34% was affected. Imagine the overall participation at the national level, and I was just mentioning the court, right?
The participation is really very low compared to previous years, and that's also because the citizens are a bit tired, as they say, of seeing the same results, which aren't good, especially in terms of public transportation.
Institutions are always in bad shape, so we need to rethink what's happening with citizens who are getting tired of not seeing any real positive changes in the country, right? And it's also worth mentioning that rural areas are more neglected. We were recently looking at the banks and how many other places in Concepción that don't have a place to study, they're in very precarious situations and nothing, that's a reflection of what we're seeing of the low participation.
the barge, but we also have to bring to the dinner that there are mainly two parties that have primaries today, which are the Colorado Party and the Liberal Party. Yes, the Colorado party has the most hard-fought internal election because the ruling party, Honor Colorado, is competing against different dissident movements such as Fuerza Republicana, ColoradoTT, and Causa Republicana.
ColoradoTet, which belongs to Mario Abdo, uh, Republican Force of Hugo Velázquez, right? that they are not completely united in all the candidacies. So Mario Abdo and Hugo Velázquez, each on their own within this dynamic and Republican Cause that belongs to the Samaniego clan, as it is called, the Samaniego siblings, uh, Lilian and Arnaldo, both senators.
If it's within the Colorado Party that the real disputes are fierce, it's not so much in the Liberal Party, because there are many consensus candidates, both within the Liberal Party itself, which offer a single candidate or form alliances with other sectors, as was the case with Soledad Núñez, a candidate who has the support of the Liberal Party and almost all the other opposition parties and movements, so there isn't much to dispute.
That is also an element that can reduce participation.
Now, what is very striking is that the Liberal Party's election of authorities does not call upon its own people, because that must be said, the Colorado Party does not elect authorities, but the Liberal Party does. Today Hugo Fleitas, who is the party president, will meet his next replacement, who could be Senator Ever Villalba or Senator Dionisio Amarilla. In other words, they changed their board of directors and still had low participation. So there are many factors that explain this low turnout, Nati. And now, in the minute minute that we are doing something, uh, no less important, we have that the police arrested the tiktoker Francesco Canata at the Luque Electoral College.
They didn't mention that he was christened a moccasin.
Mocha.
Ah, the famous mocha guy who walked into a bank and complained about the coffee, something like that.
Clear. After showing up at a polling station in the city of Luque, displaying his money.
Oh, look, we just received the latest news.
Yes.
And it's really another recurring, more striking thing we're seeing this week: why go somewhere to show off your money? What are you encouraging?
What's their motivation for showing off money? To attract attention, huh, besides violating electoral law, right? So, well, nothing more and nothing less than... the police arrested him, so what happens now with this influencer, so to speak, right? What's going to happen?
Sure, sure. And well, with that we made a general report of what the internal elections have been like so far, right? Now we are waiting for the count. Hopefully, in the next few minutes, we will learn more, because we need to know that the Superior Electoral Court has a system, the TREP, that transmits the entire count, the entire scrutiny, step by step.
So we'll soon be finding out the results of the primaries. Thank you so much, Nati.
Thanks, Ru. It also completes the transmission. Uh, Nati was working on our website, the digital one, so here's the full report of the whole day.
Yes, you can read the latest updates minute by minute.
We invite you to read our social media and website.
And we now have a guest, Esteban Caballero, who is part of our family, he's from the house, he's the one who always helps us give these political readings on the future.
Esteban has arrived, he's our political analyst, he's a politician, a person who, as we said, is already one of us, and we want to understand what's happening in these internal elections, so we're going to talk to him. Welcome, Esteban, it's a pleasure to be with you here. That's the microphone. Okay, perfect.
Dale.
A super intense day, Esteban. And we wanted to know how you saw everything that was happening, how this day unfolded, what are the challenges that the different sectors are facing now?
Dale. Well, look, I think that, well, I see the day itself as practically normal, I mean, in terms of election day, there haven't been any major incidents that have canceled processes.
Pretty much the same as always. The same is true. So, in that sense, everything is fine. Well, what does worry me a little is that we need to have a slightly more national perspective because these are municipal elections in 263 municipal districts.
Districts. Exact.
263 mayors are elected. So, that's a factor that needs to be taken into account. At the same time, 2,000 councilors are elected, both full members and an equivalent number of alternate councilors.
Now, by the time we get a clear picture of what those municipalities are like, what they're like, right? And here one has to put things into perspective a little more. We have around 120, 125 or so, that's the number I have noted, that are municipalities or districts with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, that is, they are municipalities where the municipalities are quite precarious administrative bodies, it's not that they can have a great impact on the social and economic life of the people.
Sure, it can be very strategic because, well, many times what the mayor does is exercise an important leadership role, coordinating between the parties. For example, there are programs that we can call pilot programs for poverty reduction that seek to better coordinate public services in the district, in the territory, and they often need a convening entity to propose, let's say, how to work better. And often that leadership comes from a committed mayor, from committed council members, as well as from school principals, school leaders, social leaders, and so on, right? So, while they 're not very big administratively, they have the potential to do something, let's say, uh, positive, right? We need to see if that's what's happening with the new mayors, or if many of them are running for reelection, right?
So, it's also important to see how many mayors are currently running for reelection or are trying to get reelected, right? So, that's it, and that's why some who are in office are n't re-elected, right?
What was wrong with their administration that prevented them from being re-elected, right? Campaign, right? or in his campaign. In his campaign, yes, yes, he plays an important role, right?
So, having a bit of that notion of the dimensions of the municipalities, I think that politically the most important ones are the intermediate or large municipalities, right? Um, municipalities that have, let's say, more than 20,000 inhabitants, and let's say the big ones in relation to Paraguay, uh, which would be Asunción, Ciudad del Este, Encarnación, Cambutá, because each of those has a kind of metropolitan area, right?
This city, President Franco in Andaria.
Those are the districts where there is a real population, where there is a greater urban sprawl, where there are more services, uh, where the things at stake are perhaps of greater impact, let's say, right? But we must also separate, I think, the fact that these are internal, not the municipal ones properly. So the citizen feels different when going to vote, because they generally also resort to the call of their different political leaders, they resort to transportation.
Often the citizen is caught in the middle of this dispute between the pro-government and the dissident; it is not precisely the electoral proposal, the government proposal that interests them.
You're absolutely right. Yes, I was going in that direction a bit for context.
Exact.
Oh, but since you're on the subject, these are the simultaneous internal elections, right?
Who will be the candidates for the parties? Exact.
And maybe what is discussed, what is talked about for October will be different from what is discussed and talked about now, right? which in fact has been quite insubstantial, I mean, if you start to investigate what has been, let's say, the backs and forth of the campaigns that we are now reaching in the primaries, it's all very very pragmatic, uh, power quotas, I support you, I don't support you, I don't have money, uh, the Honor Calorado movement, any other didn't want to support me, so I'll go with the others. It has been a hectic week, let's say, where what has emerged most is that transactional, pragmatic, clientelistic spirit that Paraguayan politics has.
Yes, anyway, taking that into account, two interesting things are happening here, right?
and which have to do primarily with the National Republican Association, the Colorado Party, obviously.
And we're going to see, we're going to have a concrete result of the strength of the Honor Colorado movement X, let's say, Honor Colorado equals Cartism, in quotes, right?
if it truly follows the economics of this movement. Now, exactly. If it follows the Exactly.
So there will be a verification of its hegemonic presence, which we were, let's say, testing out to see if it would happen or not.
Uh, you interrupted me if you want to say yes or no, in the sense that at the beginning there was a proposal that came precisely from the command that was the one of unity and of the single candidate.
And then in 2025, he realized that it was very difficult, it was very difficult, especially because of his leaders, right? Exact. There wasn't really any possibility of doing something with that much discipline, was there?
Like, oh well, we're going to have a single candidate. And that's how HC opened up a bit and what emerged was one of the most interesting phenomena of this network, parallel to the struggle between the national movements, Republican Force, CausaTT, right? different brands, uh, it was the internal one of the H of Honor Colorado, right?
So, in that internal process we're seeing, and I'm very interested in seeing the results, right? Not only which of the Cartes supporters won, let's say, but above all, what that result means within Cartes, because in some way there have been situations that are striking and that are repeated. There's a pattern, isn't there? And what is that pattern?
That pattern has to do with the fact that there is a territory, the municipalities, and there are certain actors. I would say the governor, or some senator, or some congressman, right?
Yes. They are vying for influence in that territory.
Territorial, yes?
TRUE? Paraguayan case, Governor Sárate there.
in play against competing with Minister Juan Carlos Baruj.
Exactly.
Or Caguaz where you have Ovelar in conflict with Marcelo Soto.
Exact. And you can also talk about the animosity between the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Jiménez, and the Governor of San Pedro de Eclesis, right?
In almost every place, these characters—the governor, a senator, a congressman— come into conflict to see who has the greatest influence in the territory.
That's very interesting, Esteban, because they wanted to project—just as the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña, spoke earlier—that within the Cartes movement in Horacio there is a completely homogeneous unity, and clearly that's not the case. We're talking about a very large movement, right? And that naturally, its exponential growth, even more so in dispute with the eh of the State's resources, gives rise to these fractures.
In fact, it seemed to me at the beginning of the government that in the first months and years of the government these dissident movements were going to disappear and that the party, the Honor Colorado movement, was going to be, let's say, hegemonic and within that, within the Honor Colorado movement, the different fractures that generate movements were going to occur, right? But these dissident groups resisted.
Yes, exactly.
But there was what you said, that is, in the sense that when the legislature began in 2023, you had a group that many people were calculating, well, in Congress you're going to have so many seats that are from dissidents, so many seats from the opposition, so many seats from Cartes. If the opposition and dissidents united, they would have a majority. I do n't know if you remember in 2023 that there was a lot of talk about that and then the board of directors was formed, the first board of directors of the Congress of the Chamber of Deputies and of Senators.
And Cartism managed to connect with everyone and did not allow that fracture to occur in Parliament. We must mention the work of Basilio Núñez, who is a great facilitator. a large articulating machine.
Exactly. So, that's it, that's what you said, but being hegemonic it couldn't avoid what has become the main space of the Colorado party and where the real deals are made, that is, where people do seek power, like, "I'd better switch to Cartes because that's where the power is," and since there are many people who don't care what brand holds power, they just want to be in power. Of course, what happened in the Chamber of Deputies, for example, a person who is currently an articulator of the central department, the deputy Jazmín Arváez, was a dissident, she was from Añitete when she presented herself as a candidate for deputy and entered the list, she became a deputy and then moved to HC.
Yes. And now she is a great organizer of the grassroots in the territories of Lambaré, Lambaré, etc. Now we have to see what happens in Lambaré, because Lambaré is an important test, right?
And so, uh, that, for example, is an interesting phenomenon, right?, that needs to be seen, and uh, that's the challenge, the movement of the machinery, right? Because participation was low or it was normal from your point of view, the current one, the one we are experiencing.
Yes, that's less than 40%.
Yes, the average. Um, let's look at the calculation it says, I think it was 45% or 44%, which is what is usually presented in an internal election, and if there were 37%, it is below what was expected. It 's not so bad, but we have to see what the historical average is in the end, if it ends up like that. Yes, a little less than the historical problem. I don't know exactly what the turnout was in the primaries in Asunción, which is the one being cited the most, but it is a little lower than what I thought it would be, right? 44%.
But there wasn't much enthusiasm because it's like the Colorado Party member and the Liberal Party member too, because the rest are almost just symbolic. In other words, it's not very important; they're not outside the Colorado Party, and outside the Liberal Party, there's not much relevance regarding the primaries.
Exact.
So, it seems to me that these two parties, and their members, weren't very enthusiastic. It's like there was no reason why, and there was nothing.
I think that happened a bit like there was a lack of information too.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
And also that the capable candidates opted more for that, for their machinery, rather than for attracting, for a more expansive campaign towards other movements. Yes, yes, yes, of course.
Perhaps this result has to do with the fact that on the one hand the structure had fewer resources, because you saw that there was a moment this year when it fell, we entered a fiscal crisis, let's say, right? And then the famous war economy began, which affected the entire non-state apparatus, from the municipal level, let's say, decentralized and centralized, and perhaps that took away some resources from that mobilization effort and enthusiasm, because a lot of this also has to do with that, right? I don't know if it was because there wasn't much at stake to stir up passions, or because there were n't enough resources to mobilize so many people, right? It could be either one or a combination of both, right?
Yes. But how does it weigh on a candidate that has a team that's in government? How much influence does the government have on the primaries, right? Because, well, Cartes practically didn't have a candidate until recently, and at the very last minute Camilo Pérez was chosen for Asunción. The same thing happened with the dissidents, who decided at the last minute that Arnaldo Samanío would be the candidate, and it was Camilo Pérez who remained in Cartes' camp. And how much weight the state structure carries there, because he was positioned very quickly. He was far behind in some polls, and in the end it seems that the candidate rebounded; that is to say, it carries a lot of weight.
Yes, it was very typical of Chartism, wasn't it? And from the way Horacio Carter, personally, manages things, I think, he has a very business-oriented approach, right? Then it moved almost like a corporation. It was decided in the board meeting. This is going to be the candidate.
That was communicated, spaces were offered, let's say, for people to give their opinions, meetings, the message was conveyed, surely there was a transaction of what you gain if you support Camilo and what you lose if you support Camilo.
And the entire panorama of the structure was covered, right? And in that sense, Congressman Raúl Torres was one of the architects of that movement, right? The campaign manager.
And of course, there's the party-state, right?
The State Party has the means to mobilize and is the one in power, right? They control the state, and that's why it happens so quickly. Furthermore, it was very well designed, I mean, I saw when you see it like this, well, now that we decided on the consultant for the campaign design, the campaign design was well done, there was discipline, many of the candidates for councilors are viable, I mean, it's not some kind of terrible list. There are people with potential, young people, they ran a good campaign in that sense of making a fairly diverse list of councilors. There are good things to say. No, no, no, it's not just a critical view that one has, is it? And those things, those things mattered, right? So we can suddenly see what happens in the total, okay?
Because the national total at the end of the day, or tomorrow, or the day after, will be what percentage of total votes the ANR obtained nationwide, regardless of, let's say, adding everything up.
That's going to be a piece of information that will give us a very important clue, right? Yes, the party still has the same deep roots as always. If he lost weight, we'll be looking at that for 2028.
And how much did Mario Abdo weigh?
How much did Hugo Velázquez weigh? That's going to be more internal, let's say, right? Then we'll see if we can, then we'll see the total NR, right? Sure, that would be in October, we'll see the total ANR.
Yes, yes.
And now we're not going to see that difference.
I'm confusing the Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But you understand what I'm saying. Then at the end in October, that total that the NR obtains will be a very interesting piece of data. Now it's the total that the winning move gets.
Exact. Okay, so here we're going to find out which leader has the most influence, right?
Uh, yes, the movement and leader, right?
Because the topic of movement also seems important to me here, the word movement because they are structures, right?
Not just leaders, right?
Clear.
So let's see.
And there are self-employed people there too. Uh, La Torre has his own team, Beto over there in Cauazú has his own team.
Of course, there are a lot of teams there, right?
Yes of course. And we also saw a fact that I do n't want to leave out because in recent years it has been very significant, it weighed heavily on the Colorado Party, and it must be said, organized crime, organized crime also infiltrated the party and in these primaries there were even criminal acts. Exact. For example.
Exact. So, that's also a factor that needs to be analyzed. Esteban is very important. Very important.
It would seem, although October is still to come, that it is less violent than in 2021, let's say, right? In 2021 there were quite a few cases of councilors, uh cases of hired killers. I do n't have the exact number right now, but I've seen fewer, but there are these cases we mentioned, or cases of council members who were found to be linked to money laundering, right? And that's a very, very worrying issue, isn't it?
Yes. The party's permeability to certain groups and individuals is the first filter; the internal party structure is the first filter. Exactly, clearly, exactly, exactly, exactly. And you never know, right? Well, there's a huge responsibility involved in selecting candidates, isn't there?
Because, well, I want to be, I have money, and here I go. You have to filter if you want a match.
Clear. And the work that institutions do, right?
Sometimes the police are more involved, right? But well, in the intelligence institutions, the Senat, uh Ceprelat. Yes, exactly.
Because the electoral court cannot intervene in those cases, right?
What the institutions do will be very important in order to purge our political sectors of these actors who want to gain ground within the state, right? So it's very important. Yes. And another important factor, Esteban, is the internal Liberal Party dispute; their dispute in the municipalities is apparently not so relevant because they found many consensus candidates. However, today they voted on the change of the board of directors, which is a relevant fact, let's say, for the party and the committees and the departmental boards, that is, they are doing a general renewal of the entire leadership of the party, right?
And especially with these, and there are more, but there are three main movements, as we know, right?
New liberalism, Radical Front and Blue Dialogue.
Three very different positions, that is, the radical front with a discourse that we have to be a hard opposition against Cartism, the blue dialogue that has had a practice of coexistence and alliance with the party when we say blue dialogue we are talking about Dionisio Amarillo. Dionisio Marill, from the Radical Front, Senator Ever Villalba, who has a more social discourse, but is extremely radical, as you say, with respect to the ruling party.
Yes. And New Liberalism, which is a mix, uh, and which seems to be the leading force, at least in the first reading I heard from Trep, said that it was gaining ground, but with 9000 votes. There is still no significant sample.
Ales Riveros.
Ales Riveros, who is the party's presidential candidate.
And that's what I think, even though they're going to have a relatively lower participation than the NR, they've had between 30 and 35% participation. It gives the party an opportunity to heal wounds, let's say, right?
Well, I think I hope whoever wins, which will surely be this new liberalism, wins by a wide margin, right? Because that will give it more authority and will prevent attempts to reject or refute the results and return to an internal party conflict, because the party needs to get out of that world of internal dispute and focus on non- internal issues, as the party has often found itself in that situation.
uh start talking more with the outside world, let's say, with Paraguayan society. Yes.
And I think that's a result. And we're also going to look at some issues that we should be closely monitoring, like what's happening with the liberal coherence list and President Marlen.
Or Orw. Ah, right, because they are presenting their list as a kind of protest list for having abandoned the quota.
Ah, of course. Uh, this fact that greatly affected the Liberal Party, which was a setback, they say, of course, because they had this idea of parity, Exactly, right? That was left out, and there was a lot of criticism from women, especially, right? And other actors too, right? Or men, but now it will be measured whether the member, the liberal member, the average liberal member, let's say, cares so much about the abandonment of the quota, right? Is this just another speech about female leadership within the party, or is it a speech she has learned from the grassroots?
Let's say that could be an interesting reading as well in terms of the results that will come out of that aspect of the liberal internal, right?
Completely.
And then we also have to see what's happening in certain areas; what's happening in Ciudad del Este is very interesting, isn't it? Where you have the new liberalism that supports María Portillo, but the radical front supports Laura Fol, if I'm not mistaken. So, with different positions regarding the alliance with Mujica in October and so on, because there's a lot at stake here about whether we go alone or as allies, and how we go as allies, there's the whole issue of whether Miguel Prieto could be a rising star with such characteristics that the Liberal Party would offer to support him in 2028, right?
That kind of thing is going away. If someone who is not liberal leads or not, the badge. I think that's going to be known today because, uh, Ever Villalba had that openness, I understand. He says, "You don't know, we trust that another opposition figure can lead the ticket for 202 and a liberal can accompany her."
Exact.
But other sectors are tougher on that issue and say, "No, the Liberal Party has to head the ticket." In addition. Exact. And we'll see how that measures up because one of the surprising things in this new primary, when we see this document released by the Superior Electoral Court, listed the political organizations that will participate in today's primary, and obviously by number of members, right? And obviously the largest, ANR, is followed by PRA. Third, a C, and fourth, I think, mm, I think it emerged as a political organization, as a political party.
This is the order of sectors, you said.
These are the political organizations, according to the Superior Electoral Court, that are participating in today's primaries.
Ah, because of the number of members they have.
Ah, of course.
So, in terms of membership numbers, the third on the list is one that is still surviving. Yes. And the fourth one that was promoted, that recently rose from the new one, the party was just created. Exact. It's about creating democratic awareness, I believe.
So it's interesting to see that because they did their membership campaign and there are several alliances also in the interior that we'll see more of in October that have a name, I think.
Yes, it's a large group of alliances, isn't it?
What does this attempt by Prieto and his team to expand throughout the national territory, and not remain only as a departmental movement and exo in Mariana Roca Alonso, for example, demonstrate to you?
I believe he supports the liberal candidate who is the leading candidate. Exact. So, I know how it is that her husband, who is the congressman, is going to make a swap, the husband is going to be mayor and then he's going to run for Congress.
Yes, yes. Hey, Salinas.
Salt flats. Yes.
And he's running for office, and I think he supports her. They said, they made that agreement there that I believe I will not present a candidacy in Mariano Roca Alonso. So, he supports the Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party is going to support him, that is, his faction, right?, is going to support him in 202. That 's the agreement they reached, right?
And that kind of thing. But it must also be said that the number of members is not what really determines which figure will win.
And a challenge for Prieto, whose leadership is projected for 202, is to really prove how much acceptance he has at the national level. Yes, because it has been said a lot that he came here to Asunción, supported a candidate who is Johana Ortega for the opposition and she lost, and how could Prieto have supported her?
But of course, in politics, in elections, the transfer of voters doesn't happen just like that, it seems to me. So, that's not proof of Miguel Prieto's influence or lack thereof, is it?
Well, let's say it isn't, I'd say it's partly, partly, but not decisive, let's say, right?
Because yes, if he had a huge following in Asunción it would have been an important sponsorship or support, but it didn't turn out that way. It didn't work out.
And those are things that should make you think, right? Anyway, in terms of strategy, if I'm correct, in terms of expanding my candidacy or my person or my movement to the country, right?
How fast do I have to go? If I can make that leap from Ciudad del Este to President of the Republic.
It's a bold move, to say the least.
Yes, he has already taken the first step, which is to make himself known in some way to the country.
Yes. Yes. Second, I have managed to gain strength, to have legislative forces in both chambers.
It has deputies and senators, so it has parliamentary representation, let's say, Miguel Prieto with his party.
Yes. And also that he managed to extend this total defeat of National Crusade, which lost almost all of its representatives, and well, one of them, yes, Lady Galeano, as a deputy, she went to, I think, she was from National Crusade, and in the Senate, Oviedo, José Oviedo, who went to, I think, so let's say that the first steps have already been taken, and it will also depend in the future on what agreements he reaches, what campaign he runs.
Correct, correct. Yes, yes, yes, that's right.
And his criminal cases.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
One factor, and he deserves that credit, right? He is a person who I believe has demonstrated organizational ability. His team is very loyal, so he also has some experience in teamwork and management. And that's true in a certain sense, much more focused than another candidate who also emerged somewhat from his own direction.
Yes, Payo, what an unpredictable guy.
Yes, yes, absolutely. Well, I think that works against him because he has, had, and still has popularity, yes.
But that political instability of not being predictable, yes.
Well, let's just say that worked against him quite a bit. Yes, yes, exactly.
That's right, exactly.
And well, in these municipal elections, what more can we say? What else can we see in terms of perspective? What is decided here with an eye to the future, right? What else can we see? And well, if one possible answer to that is, uh, these games that are played between minister, senator, deputy, governor, right? And how are they positioning themselves in the territory? There are some important bets from those who want to be on the presidential ticket with Aliana, right? I 'm referring to the ANR internal election, right?
Very important. Yes. So, if Camilo Pérez delivers a good result today, and Representative Raúl La Torre does well, but even more so if he delivers a victory for the ANR in October, in October, uh, Raúl La Torre's rating will go up a bit, let's say, right?
Because he's ultimately positioned there as the leader of that process, right?
The same would happen if he were to compete in that same ambition, a victory that I see as more difficult for Baruja in Paraguari.
Mm.
TRUE? And you say that Norma has more experience, let's say, in Paraguay. I don't think Baruja can win what he wants to win, especially if we go to Paraguarí, Carapeguá, and I remember there was a third one, which are the most important. But if the governor manages to place her bets there, where she's competing with one of Baruja's candidates, Baruja will supposedly drop in terms of ratings to position himself for 2028, right? Because at the end of the day, the proof that they maintain their influence is there, right? And then there's this proposal from the Council of Governors, the Colorado governors, which is César de Soto, who could be the one from Guairá, uh, César Sosa, César Sosa, sorry, César Sosa, which is an alternative that President Santiago Peña was also flirting with in a way, but we'll see, I see that one as weaker, but it's a positioning because the governors and those territorial bodies are wanting to have more say in national decisions, right? They shouldn't be left behind, right? I think there's quite a bit of a struggle going on, I haven't seen it that much, but it's as if the political weight, let's say, of the departments, of the governors, their influence has matured and they are starting to ask for more space, right? So there may be a certain contradiction there between the capital's elites, entrenched in the institutions, and the advance, let's say, of this, let's say, this intermediate, this group of politicians who are more representative of the interior, because several of them would even like to consider themselves either as senators or as deputies or even as presidents, let's say, right? So that also seems to me like a process of seeing how the governors stand from this internal perspective. For example, if Eclesis conquers San Pedro, Soto will conquer Caguasú, right? Hey, Sara supports you, she stays in Paraguarí, right? César Landi from Alto Paraná with his candidate Chamorro, if not, also if he has more influence than the Zacarías and so we are going to see these kinds of situations, right? important ones, and then we'll see in October, right?
What's going on, right? Because we have certain actors in the fundamental assumption that they are not in the game internally, right? But they will step forward in October without fail. The Soledad Núñez case, right?
Sure, sure. Yes, I know that today he will officially announce his candidacy if he is going to take on the challenge of competing against the Colorados. Okay, exactly. How much did it influence things? Exact.
And we have to be attentive to Duque's internal disputes with Echeverría, who kind of put his foot in it, I think, at some point, and then San Lorenzo, we have to see what happens. Lambaré, we'll have to see what happens.
That affects those key districts a lot, doesn't it? Very numerous, with many people.
Yes that's how it is. And well, thank you very much, Esteban. It's a pleasure to have you here with such a precise reading.
We really always lack these voices of professionals who have the tools to give us this interpretation of reality, right?
Correct. Thank you so much.
Thanks a lot.
Until next time.
Until next time. And well, now we're going to continue with other visits from the house, fellow specialists in political journalism. We're going to talk about these key districts, as Esteban mentioned, who said that these results are going to be crucial, especially for the central department, to define the political leadership within the different parties. So we already have journalists Lida Duarte and Cecilia Colinas who are going to talk to us about these very important details. So welcome girls, sit down, make yourselves comfortable.
An intense day with a lot of factors to analyze. So welcome, welcome Lida, how are you?
Thank you, Ruth. Well, and here we are following the party primaries.
We're here with Cesi too.
Hello, good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Yes, we're keeping a close eye on how the system's count is being done, right?
Which is already giving us the first results.
That's what we want to know because I was here analyzing the whole scenario, but I couldn't really focus on what happened after 4 o'clock when the gates closed and the TEEP system was already activated, because it must be said that the electoral justice system is extremely fast. Throw those results away quickly. And what scenario do they want to start with? Which one do you think? Shall we start with Asunción? If you're okay with that, we can see how it goes. Asunción, let's go for Asunción. Hey, red team, Arnaldo versus Camilo. In other words, here we see a battle between the official structure and the opposition, which is trying to defeat the official structure without government and municipal resources, right? How did this whole issue develop and what is the current situation?
Well, the ruling party is currently prevailing over the Colorado Party dissidents.
Camilo Pérez, yes, with 62% he's already there, according to the count on the third, right?
She has that percentage. Camilo Pérez, while Fuerza Republicana, which represents Araldo Samaneo, has 32%. Mm.
And well, what we see is that the party structure, the municipal structure, the official structure is imposing itself on what is collaborative dissent. Arnardo Samaniego was already a candidate, he was already mayor in 2010. In 2015 he tried to become mayor again and he couldn't against the opposition at that time.
Mario Ferrero was the one who won the elections and he was the candidate of the Cartes faction in that election. So now it's his turn to be the dissident candidate in these twists and turns that the Colorado party is going through. It's very typical of the Colorado Party to switch from one movement to another depending on who controls the structure. Yes.
And that was, uh, I think what you're saying is key to analyzing Asunción, Cesi, because even when Camilo started, which, it must be said, was a very last-minute candidacy, because the Cartes faction was very late in choosing its candidate precisely because it was in that crisis of representation, right? and there was a lot of arguing. And so the dispute here was between resources, because Camilo is a candidate with resources, as Milda Rivarola said, the discourse, the municipal resources, his own resources, the government resources, the Cartes resources versus the machinery, because Arnaldo Samaniego has control of several local branches, so that was something that was in his favor, but apparently it wasn't enough, right?
That's how it is. That's how it is. According to these data, it was not enough and the resurgence of the collaborative dissidence in Asunción could not be achieved.
What we were also saying these days is that neither of the two candidates is charismatic either.
Not Camilo, no. In the sense that they are not accessible to the press either; we cannot talk to them, easily interview them, they are not open to talking, they don't have a phone, clearly.
So, that's what they do have in common. Yes, that's what they both have in common, and they also have in common that for the Colorado Party, they didn't have too much charisma because what happened with the Colorado Party... we recently accessed some polls and they were very much neck and neck according to these polls.
That's how it is.
And some didn't even know who Camilo Pérez was. I think that the fact that the Colorado Party, the ruling party, has control of the institutions and the public sector also has a huge influence on the outcome of the primaries, Cecil Lida. That's right. There were also several complaints about it. What else? What other factors can we include in this scenario?
Well, what I also see is that the dissidents failed to awaken that interest in the electorate to go and vote, to cast the protest vote as Lilian Samar asked, the protest vote.
And yet, we know how the structure mobilizes from early hours and that made this percentage high for Camilo Pérez. Meanwhile, Senator Arnaldo began asking for votes during the afternoon, urging people to go to the polls, which already indicated that the results were not favorable for him. However, we do n't know how this will turn out in 202. By 2028, it does generate few chances for Alianza Pandido to be part of the presidential ticket because that was her intention, to be part of the ticket for the... Ah, she wanted to be vice president.
Yes. I mean, not only did she launch her candidacy for president, she can also be a presidential candidate.
Sure, sure. Yes.
From Petenil, for example, it's true that, of course, his ally, Senator Luis Petil, is a presidential candidate, a pre-candidate for president within the Colorado Party and is part of the dissident faction along with the Samaniegos, along with Lilian Samaniego.
Cei mentioned that Arnaldo started calling his voters during siesta time, could that indicate that Camilo had already secured his votes early in the morning, meaning he got ahead of Samaniego, right? Because they always have a parallel count, so they are constantly measuring the temperature, and that call for a nap could have been a foreshadowing of this result. In addition.
Yes, because the structure mobilizes early. That can be seen in every election. They go early to vote, as if to secure the first part of the work, which is, let's say, the most important part for the sector that is in power at this moment.
Clear. Well, then Camilo would be ahead, that is, a victory for Cartes within the Colorado primaries.
Eh, Samaniego would be a defeat for the dissidents who had the support of other dissident sectors.
Let's also remember who withdrew their candidacies in favor of Arnaldo Samaniego. Daniel Centurión was the last to withdraw his candidacy.
Yes, at the beginning I was saying, "Well, he always wanted to negotiate with Arnaldo Samaniego.
Uh, he had several attempts, it failed because Arnaldo Samaniego didn't want to negotiate, but uh suddenly uh Daniel Centurión withdrew his candidacy the day before. I remember he had said, uh yes, we decided to go for a poll, right?
Uh, that's the tool, the instrument we had chosen to, well, join forces, but we were waiting for that poll to be carried out, I don't know, within the week or something like that, the next day they appear with the results, they call us to a quick press conference and there they give the results. That's what seemed super strange to us because we couldn't follow up on the day of the polls, where those polls were carried out, right? It was super quick and well, that's where they sealed the agreement and Daniel Centurión withdrew his candidacy to join forces with Arnaldo.
That's right. That's right. So, uh, that's on one hand within Capital Samaniego versus Camilo, we also have, uh, let's see, I want Ce Olida, whoever has That's what's on my mind, reminding me of the leadership positions currently being contested in Asunción, because it's not just Camilo Arnaldo involved here. We have city council seats, and we also have leadership in terms of political fiefdoms, right?
Raúl La Torra, the congressman who wants to be on the presidential ticket with Aliana in 2028. He 's the campaign manager. We also see that he plays several roles. What are these leadership positions within Asunción? I know if you're reminding us, and what is the factor they're vying for, what element they're fighting over here in the capital, and what relevance does it have? Well, clearly, as you mentioned, the 2028 candidate is also in the running to form the presidential ticket.
We'll see if this is enough for Raúl La Torra to be chosen by Pedro Aliana and also by Horacio Cartel, obviously as the vice-presidential candidate.
Several senators, several congressmen, and also authorities of various entities have a... They have their own weight within the structure of the Colorado Party and have candidates for city council. There are 24 positions on the Municipal Board up for grabs, where current councilors are also vying to return; several of them are running to reclaim their seats, like Seres Cobar, right? Uh, to name one, there 's also Miguel Sosa, who is a councilor and president of district 44, which carries significant weight in the capital, and who also supported Óscar Rodríguez's administration.
Then we have new leaders emerging, like Senator Patrick Kemper, who was in the Agamus party, then joined the Colorado Party and was part of the Cartes faction.
He, for example, also has a candidate in district 15.
Ah, look, that's interesting. That is to say, Patrick Kemper is a player who is now entering the capital's political scene with these elections. He's getting involved, he's involved, and he's with the director of the civil registry, Maximiliano. Ayala.
Maximiliano Ayala has a brother named Constantino Ayala. He's a candidate for city council, and he's the candidate of, for example, Patrick Kemper, who, as you mentioned, is entering the struggle for leadership in the NR, specifically in the capital. This will surely give him, if his candidate wins, a bit more weight in the NR because he entered Congress with 7,000 votes—to remind you, he entered with 7,000 votes behind Katia González on the National Encounter list—and that was enough for him to occupy a seat in Congress. However, compared to the votes of the other legislators, he doesn't have as much weight, because the others have 100,000 votes, 30,000 votes, 20,000 votes, and 7,000 votes is very few, but he entered through preferential voting. through the system, and that helped him get in, and well, now he's also running in the municipal elections.
Yes, yes. Um, another interesting factor here, and one I'd like to highlight from your analysis, CESI, is that Asunción has a particular scenario. It was led by a mayor, Óscar Nicho Rodríguez, who didn't finish his term and has a high disapproval rating among the electorate. I understand he 's running again for city council, right?
So, here comes the dissent, saying, "Look, they're from the Colorado Party, it's the same administration, and we want to get rid of the Cartes faction in Asunción, which left a deplorable city, a deteriorated city, with extremely precarious public services, broken sidewalks, potholes, garbage—in other words, living in Asunción, it has to be said, is extremely critical." And, as Cesi said, so-and-so was on the team, I think, I think... Miguel Sosa, right? He was part of Nenecho's team, but in reality the entire ruling party supported Nenecho, so what kind of renewal is really being offered?
Because the tower was actually supported, uh, the councilors who are there actually supported it, that is, it's practically a very small change of figurehead that they're making, right? The same team remains.
The same team remains.
The same candidates for councilors are being maintained, that is, the same councilors who were in the previous period are now seeking to enter with a facelift, so to speak. That's practically it, because, let's say, the main leaders want to distance themselves from Nenecho. Then there was the story that was before, nenecho. The story.
Exact. Starting with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Raúl la Torres, Nenecho completely distances himself and says that he prefers not to walk alongside Nenecho practically in this election campaign.
Yes.
Well, on the one hand, and Nenecho is practically alone in this whole thing of having that support of appearing on posters or in campaigns, the tours alongside a leader, well, that's difficult for him. So much so that we saw him in recent weeks going to Congress a lot with his wife, Lisarela Valiente, right?
Yes, I spent a lot of time in Lisar's office.
Yes, he just happened to be passing through the corridor where we, the press workers, were standing, right? Uh, like he's parading around, waiting for someone to interview him, right? In fact, dissent is very important in politics. So, he took advantage of those opportunities provided by his wife Lisarela Valiente, right? Uh, to have a bit of an image, right? Except that clearly, I mean, more than a campaign in his favor, we bombarded him with questions about his management and so on, right? And things that he couldn't defend or that he kept insisting on regarding issues that have already been discovered to be incorrect, that are irregularities, right?
But he's been using that strategy for the last few weeks because he was left all alone in terms of visual support.
Yes. And there were many accusations against him as well. The uh several uh beings Escobar, I think it was. If Ser Escobar directly accused him of using municipal money from bonds and other resources in Lisarela's campaign, and in the campaigns of several Colorado Party leaders, then there's a lot of weight against Nenecho Choy and his team. But we see that, as you said, Lida, it's really just a whitewash, so we'll see what happens. And that is the challenge for Vamos a vamos ahora al otro lado, Soledad Núñez, who is the consensus candidate of the opposition and she will have to compete against the Colorado candidate. And Soledad, we see that what she's going to do is simply formalize her candidacy. So that's going to be their challenge, to differentiate themselves from the Colorado Party profiles, uh, to seduce the electorate, right? So, it's a very big challenge, Lida Ci, with the opposition that wants to displace this current structure, right? And whoever wins from the Colorado Party, which Camilo is now positioning himself for, will ultimately have to fight against that entire structure that is currently in the municipality, right? That's not easy at all. They have, I mean, the Colorado Party now has the whole structure in its favor for the October elections, and well, and if you imagine, these elections are practically bloody, as they were saying in some places, imagine what it's going to be like in October, right? Everything that Soledad Núñez will have to face as the opposition is a great challenge for the opposition as well, which tends to be divided; that is, it 's also for them.
Yes, but it must be said that the consensus that was achieved is extremely commendable because practically all the parties support Soledad, including the most important one, which is the Liberal Party. So in Asunción they haven't had a contested internal election because what they're fighting for now is the council seats, because there they have to define their list of councilors and also the board of the Liberal Party, right?, which is changing from today. So let's see what awaits the opposition. What else can we highlight about Asunción? So we move on to another district, something relevant. Asunción, I think, is relevant at the national level, because what happens here in Asunción will be very relevant for 2022.
Imagine if an opposition candidate wins. How will he govern? How do you think an opposition leader could govern with a county?
That's going to be very challenging, I imagine, because of the dispute over resources and central government assistance, right? In other words, it's going to be something really important and very challenging for the next mayor.
Clear. And that is what we see today in how that relationship or breakdown, let's say, occurs between the central government and the departmental or municipal governments.
That's why they are excluded from zero hunger, including governorships like the central one.
Mm. Uh, or lastly, uh, central and also Asunción, but after the Hugo Javier scandal too, right? Or rather, the scandal in Asunción over zero hunger, right? In the central government, also because of that scandal, but there, for example, is a liberal, so Ricardo Astigarrilla feels like a punishment for being a liberal that he is not given the administration of those resources.
Absolutely, absolutely. Therefore, the support of the central government is very important for local and departmental governments.
So we'll see. Hey Asunción, any other comments?
Part of nothing else. We will continue to wait for the final results. So far, Camilo Pérez is very far ahead, and surely the campaign that awaits the opposition will be very difficult, as Lida mentioned, against this entire structure that the ruling party manages.
Yes. Okay, let's see which district we're going to, which bus line, which line we're going to take, right? Let's go to San Lorenzo.
Let's go to San Lorenzo. Well, in San Lorenzo the current mayor is Felipito Salomón, who is the son of Senator Óscar Salomón. We're talking about the Solomons now.
The Solomon clan. Well, there's a peculiarity there because, well, they were Colorado dissidents. Cachito Salomón leaned more towards dissent, but his son was a candidate for the Colorado Party. Well, so Óscar Salomón obviously showed up at his son's events too, but he also kind of distanced himself from Cartes's ideology, but his votes in the Senate varied according to certain negotiations, right? To illustrate that, Cachito Salomón, a senator of the Republic, was not part of the Colorado honor caucus.
He retired, however, he was still very close to the ruling party.
Yes, like many senators.
Yes, what they do there is very strategic. It's like a disguised form of dissent. And his son, the mayor of San Lorenzo, who is a pre-candidate, and we'll see if he wins, apparently he's also very far ahead according to the count.
Uh, did he or did he not have the support of the government, I mean, his being a Colorado honorary member, and he had major problems with the central government, right? He had a very good, that is, he has good relations with the central government. In fact, I understand that Santiago Peña was even at an event in San Lorenzo last month or the month before. Well, and there he greets Felipito Salomón, Óscar Salomón. Well, that's a message too, isn't it?
Clear. The inauguration of the work of Avelino Martínez.
Yes, yes. Well, but if we go to the TREP and to continue with the analysis of how San Lorenzo is moving right now, with 50% of the votes already processed, Felipito Salomón is ahead with 63.39% of the votes compared to another pre-candidate from the Colorado Party, Edgar López, who has 34.28%.
So, the internal conflict in San Lorenzo is not against dissent, it's within Honor Colorado itself.
Within Honor Colorado.
Well, the peculiarity is that Edgar López, as some people from San Lorenzo were saying, it's not known where he gets so much money from the advertising he pays for, right?
So, he's helping out, for example, from the chapels to the neighborhood committees, right? Uh, so he's a figure who attracts a lot of attention, and yes, he was being seen as a real threat to Felipito Salomón.
This really wasn't a foregone conclusion. Well, this result we're seeing now was n't a foregone conclusion. Well, there were doubts, people were waiting to see what it would be, whether there would be a surprise or if Felipito Salomón was really going to reposition himself.
Yes.
And that's the situation in San Lorenzo, but there's also a dispute within the third force, right?, which is the PLRA. There was actually an agreement with the PLRA, but it was ultimately not fulfilled and two candidates are running for the PLRA. Ah, Luz Bella should have been the PDRA's consensus candidate, but her accuser ran independently for the PLRA. Bella is the opposition candidate of the party within the Liberal Party and has the support of the alliance or she is not a candidate of the alliance of the other sectors of Yes, it is an alliance. Alliance alliance.
Okay, okay. Let's see if we have any results yet.
But it's really difficult for the opposition in San Lorenzo.
Sure, sure. San Lorenzo, I think we just have to define whether or not Felipito Salomón is chosen, and he'll have to fight for the position, but it's practically impossible given all the weight he carries. Another of the unique features of San Lorenzo. Well, I was coming from San Lorenzo now and from 4 in the afternoon the vehicles with the stickers of one and the other Colorado candidate were crossing paths, going back and forth. There is still a lot of activity in the schools. They are occupied at the schools, in the surrounding area, it's very full, parking on both sides, I mean, there is a lot of activity, I mean, at 4 pm there was still a lot of activity.
So, I don't know how this is going to end, but now 50% of the tables have already been counted, so it's already complicated for there to be a virtual winner difference. So, it 's Felipito Salomón. San Lorenzo voted again, and the challenge will then be for the opposition to remove him from office, right? Which is a very difficult task. There were also doubts in the sense that there are also questions about Felipito Salomón regarding infrastructure in recent weeks, for example, tractors going here and there. Famous before the elections, projects everywhere, right? And these works were concentrated a little towards the center of San Lorenzo, but more than saying, "Wow, something is being done." It's a terrible mess in terms of traffic; you couldn't drive anywhere and so on. It seemed like they were rushing things too much in the context of the elections, and it 's quite possible that the central government is also helping, right? Because they lent him a hand. A very chaotic city, very destroyed in terms of infrastructure.
Let us remember the child who died after being swept away by a flash flood. That's terrible.
Yes, exactly. And that the municipality had a lot to do with it, a great deal of responsibility for not ensuring those works properly, and well, nothing more and nothing less than the loss of a child's life. So, San Lorenzo, good luck. Let's hope something changes in this neglected city.
We can take line 30.
We can take line 30 to go to the core.
To get the look. Because I want to say more than that there is a real head-to-head race in the PL for the mayoralty. I'm watching the train countdown now. There is the candidate Manu Achucarro Hill Manolo Achucarro.
Paint yourselves on the stage. Ci, how is Luque? Well, Luke, on one hand, there's a very big dispute in the Colorado Party because there are two candidates for the Colorado honor, where right now we see that the advantage is for Hugo Farías versus the candidate of the current mayor Carlos Echeverría, who is the deputy Diego Candia, who is also a member of the jury and magistrates' council.
How many Colorado Party candidates are there in Lé?
There are three or four.
Three or four. Yes. I'm going to.
But the most important thing, the most important thing is that of the four, there was only one surname. There's Salinas, but he's not even worth much.
There are five candidates, but the campaign was practically nonexistent.
Well, the second to last candidate there is Diego Candia. He is the candidate of the Colorado Ñete movement. He submitted to a survey with Diego Candia to see who is better positioned.
Obviously Diego Candia was better positioned and so he submitted his candidacy, or rather, he declined his candidacy, but he is still listed because there is no longer any possibility of resigning before the TSJe. So that's how four candidates remained in contention. The other one from Salinas of Fuerza Republicana, who doesn't have, let's say, much of a presence, didn't campaign much; there were no posters of him, almost no advertising. Well, however, it's also listed there. The other candidate is an independent candidate from the Colorado party, Oñón Diba, the Oñón Dibepa movement. As for the fact that there is a difference of approximately 600 votes in favor of Farías, who was the eternal judge of minor offenses, that is what I mentioned, judge of minor offenses of the municipality of Luque. He received the support of many prominent leaders from both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and thus achieved a cohesion, let's say, of the leadership. That's right, Farías is new to politics, I mean, he's venturing into it for the first time, I think, for a high-ranking position.
He has the support of, for example, Silio Velar, Deis Maidana, Rodrigo (deputy), Rodrigo Amarra, among others. Yes, of weight in honor of Colorado. And also her mother is and owns one of the services that provides for zero hunger.
Ah, of course. A supplier. Yes, it is a family with many resources, that is what is mentioned. He was also accused of several things during the campaign, for example, illicit enrichment.
Also, there's a young man who lost his hand at this company, right?
By operating one of the crushing machines, right? And this too, right? It was part of the spice of the campaign because the boy was taken to the municipal council by the councilors of the other team of the ruling party and also by the collaborator so that he could speak, so that he could comment on what happened. Uh, it was also reported during the campaign that Derlis Maidana and Rodrigo Amarra said they were going to manipulate the justice system in favor of Farías' family to prevent Farías' mother from being prosecuted in this case. Uh, it is one of the ingredients of the campaign in Luke, a rather chaotic city too, it must be said, with a plateau growth that the city is not prepared for.
That needs to be said properly. There is no drainage system, there is no system, there are no aqueducts, there is no system to prevent the rains from flooding the streets, flooding the houses. There are many neighborhoods that are underwater, they get underwater when it rains and they stay underwater when it rains, or rather, right? So, that's a situation that the city isn't prepared for, because now, with the population growth it's experiencing, the city is growing upwards with many buildings without any planning, without any order. There is no regulatory framework that dictates where it can be established, and if there is, it is not respected. This is very relevant because what is always being discussed is nothing more than political leadership, but what about the state of the city, right? If everything you pointed out is really important, then what kind of city are these candidates leaving behind?
So, what are your proposals? Because much of what gets lost in this internal party dispute is the real need of the people. Lu, which is also a city with very unsafe areas. That is also one of the complaints.
So, well, that's going to be a big challenge for the candidates who are now officially announcing their candidacies, right? Well, as I wanted to mention, there is also a one-vote difference in the PLRA in favor of César Mesa Bria, who was mayor of Luque twice and is now running again. Perhaps this is his last attempt and the result is 3,645 votes in his favor. And the other candidate, Manolo Chucarro Hill, has 3,644.
Manuel Carro is being promoted and encouraged by the New Liberalism movement and also by Congressman Rodrigo Blanco, who is from the movement and is also from Luque. Mesa is also part of the new liberalism.
Yes.
Uh, among the figures who support him are Congressman Pedro Gómez, among others. And that's the dispute right now, the X-ray. The political situation in the Colorado Party, as well as the PLRA, which will again seek to win in the city of Luque, a city where power has alternated several times, but it has been a long time since the opposition has held it.
To the opposition. How long has Echeverrí been mayor? 10 years.
Two periods. He's already done two periods. He is retiring now. So, yes. And in the last election, César Mesa was the candidate and lost by a narrow margin.
Mm. Clear.
And well, we're going to take another bus there to get us there. I don't know which line it could be, but how about we go over it again?
We can go clean. It is also a peculiar case because there is a family clan that has been established there for decades.
The famous Gómez Berlangeri clan, right? The Gómez Berlean, Jer, the brothers Ángel Optasiano and Ramón Gómezland Jerry.
Uh, we're talking about that clan that, well, uh, lately the current mayor is Octaciano.
Yes.
He supports the candidacy of his nephew Juancho Gómez.
But who is his rival? Uh, we're talking directly within the PLRA. His uncle Ramón Gómez, that is, that place is completely in the family.
Yes, we're all in the family, as Cesi said in one of her family notes this past week.
Yes, it is a peculiar case. Góz versus Gómez.
The difference is that another surname already appears there for Bueno, e Juancho Gómez versus Ramón Gómez Berlejeri who is his uncle.
Yes. So there we see that dispute and now according to the TREP, with 70% of the votes processed, we're probably going to see a generational change because Juancho Gómez is positioning himself with 57%, that is, the young man is beating his uncle, something like that, Ramón Gómez, and he's going to replace or succeed his uncle, Optasia Gómez Berlandet. Ah, okay, okay. And his uncle Ramón Gómez Berlanderi, who is for the Pirí hat movement, is at 38.17%.
A big difference.
But yes, in this family there is an interism because apparently, I don't know if it would seem like an agreement between both families so that whoever wins, the family remains in power.
But apparently there is infighting and there are ideological differences within the family.
Ah, look, because Ramón Gómez Herlanderi was a senator when the amendment was discussed back then. Well, it ended with the death of Rodrigo Quintana.
Well, Ramón Gómez was in favor of the amendment. So, his family complained about that, and to this day, that hasn't been resolved, and from then on, that ideological difference became more pronounced, and Ramón Gómez Oleni seemed to become a little more isolated in this political fight.
But likewise, we also have one of the cousins from this new generation, Claudia Gómez, as a candidate for the Municipal Board, and she will probably remain with the entire structure that the family has.
And on the other hand, in the Chamber of Deputies, as Cesi mentioned, Deputy Pedro Gómez also belongs to the Gómez family.
Uh, all the families are also positioning themselves as promoting their gradual rise. They start as councilors, as mayors, then some of them go to Congress, right? And well, there are also plans for a replacement. The younger members of the family are aspiring to power, they are already asking for a change and probably, well, what is certain is that this generational change will take place cleanly.
It's the projection. It's the projection because although Octaciano Gómez, the current mayor, supports the candidacy of his nephew Juancho, he wasn't very visible, campaigning, or advertising the posters. Territory is very important when we talk about politics; it is very important that this face-to-face interaction with the people takes place. There was n't much support visible on the field. Uh, it's like there was a certain apprehension, that generational change, let's say. We are here now, but that's what it looked like.
Yes.
Well, we're seeing a clear generational change, but it's still in the hands of the Gómez family. The Gómez Berlanderi family, uh, within the Liberal Party, what kind of movement do they have?
Well, Juancho Gómez, who is the young man, let's say, who is a pre-candidate and who is in fact a councilman currently, is from the new liberalism, from the same movement led by Governor Ricardo Estigarrilla, that is, he is also already positioning himself for the general elections.
Yes.
And to see his piri hat, right? It's a movement that doesn't have much reach at the moment, and the Colorado Party doesn't have much influence in this city, right? I mean, we'll see, we'll see in October, but the fact that the same family or the same movement that has the municipal structure, which will help the candidates a lot, has this power, weighs heavily in their favor. Furthermore, they are going to use this generational change, a fresher figure, even though he has the same last name, he is different from his family.
So, among the Colorados, he positioned himself for Honor Colorado, because there are two pre-candidates from Honor Colorado.
Yes.
Manuel Aguilar with 54.57% of the votes against Mabel Gómez Jara, his direct rival.
Yes. And well, there are also two other candidates from Republican Cause and Colorado Renewal.
Uh, but they practically no longer enter the dispute, it is happening between Honor Colorado.
Yes, yes, but at this point it's not with 91% of the votes processed, so it's practically a done deal. Manuel Aguilar is clearly positioned with 54.57% of the votes for the Colorado party, but he will have to face the entire structure of the Gómez Berlanderi family.
Yes.
And well, I think that's the whole picture of this city. Anything else to add? No, we passed then, there is a very important city which is Ciudad del Este. I'm very interested in us being able to talk about that, Cesi.
Uh, I understand that you've also been following the situation in Este, so let's see how Dani Mujica, the current mayor, is doing.
Daniel Mujica, the mayor, recently resigned to focus on his campaign for reelection in October, awaiting his opponent from the opposition party who will try to win back the city, which, since it fell into the hands of [unnamed party], I believe has been very difficult, if not impossible, for the Colorado Party at this time. Mm.
As for the Colorado party, the central dispute is also between two lists from the Honor Colorado movement. First we have Magno Álvarez, who is from the team of Javier Zacarías Girú and also of his brother Justo Zacarías Girun, the owner of Tipu. We also have list eh 2R with Rigoberto Chamorro, who is the candidate of the governor of Alto Paraná. The governor of Alto Paraná is a Colorado, his name is César Landi Torres. He is also trying to break in and get fully involved in Ciudad del Este.
Let's remember that Landy Torres comes from Santa Rita and he is now trying to gain ground in Ciudad del Este with his candidate, who is Chamorro.
However, according to the current count, which also shows a very close race between the two, a very, very small difference so far, because 37.75% is for Álvarez, the candidate of the Zacarías Irun family, and 37.55% is for Chamorro, the candidate of Torres. That's the dispute we have, that is, the dispute. Also in Ciudad del Este, it's within the Cartes faction, as happens in several cities, as happens in San Lorenzo, for example.
In Ciudad del Este, again, there's a kind of fissure within the Cartes faction itself, a leadership dispute, and there's a dissident candidate within the Colorado Party.
Yes, they exist, but they are not very well known.
Well, the Republican candidate is Richard Alfonso, who has so far, according to this count, obtained 2971 votes. We have Jorge Cabrera from Causa Republicana, the San Diego line movement, with 418 votes, practically nothing. Gustavo Velar, who is the Coloradoñet candidate with 3428 votes, and then we have other candidates like Marco Osorio with 272 votes and Delio Fernández from Avanzar Colorado also with 272 votes. Gustavo Belar is the best-known candidate of the Colorado Party dissidents in Ciudad del Este. He is an official of ITPú, very well known, a leader with a long history in Ciudad del Este, and has collaborated with the dissident movement.
Yes, we also have the dispute in the PLRA with several candidates. I'll do a little research to see how the PL, which I believe didn't reach an agreement with Yo creo sí, and that's why they have their own candidates, they are two women. First we have María Portillo, the sister of former congressman Carlos Portillo. She is losing by almost 3,000 votes; she is being surpassed by the candidate of the Radical Front movement of Villalba, Laura Folly, with 3,625.
It must be said that this is a favorable scenario for me, because if I'm not mistaken, the Ever Villalva movement has greater affinity with me, which I believe is not the case with the movement of María Portillo. In addition. Yes, because María Portillo had distanced herself from Mayor Dani Mujica, and because of this, well, María Portillo's sector had alleged that the agreements for the mayoralty were not respected. Then she left, uh, they left that agreement. There was a whole board meeting where it was decided to withdraw support for the mayor, but Villalva's movement and the supporters of his political team did not agree with that decision.
Yes that's how it is. Uh, here I stop to make a comment, our colleague Patricia Bordón gives me a count. He says that in practically all cities of the central department, the Colorado Party is prevailing in the mayoral offices, that is, the hegemonic party within the central department, very important, the ruling party has managed to prevail over the dissent, that is, the Colorado Party is voting for the ruling party again.
In some cities there are not even any dissident candidates, such as Colorado and Republican Force, and there are only Cartes-aligned candidates. So, well, the central government is apparently being left to the Cartes faction.
And well, so far we are not seeing a city where the opposition has won.
Thumbs down for Mario's movement and Arnoldo Vince's candidacy as well.
sign. Watch out, watch out for the highly valued one.
Look, I mean, it's a very important piece of information because that's precisely what was at stake in these primaries: knowing what influence the political leaders have within the Colorado Party. How much influence do Horacio Cartes, Pedro Aliana, Mario Abdo, and Arnoldo Vince still hold? And if the dissent failed to prevail in the primaries. It's a very clear sign that Chartism continued to win the favor of its members, isn't it? So, we'll see what happens. Anything else you'd like to add?
Here I am watching what is happening in the incarnation of the deputy Remansovski, I don't know his name, but here he is as a cheva no más.
And I remember Remasovski is winning with 75% of the votes against the dissident candidate named Eduardo Florentín.
That's within the NR, right?
Within the NR. 13,000 votes versus 2153 votes.
In other words, in the in the incarnation again, Chartism is on top.
Chartism. Yes.
In reality, Chartism is allied with other movements and with other leaders who are not part of Chartism. For example, Senator Soroca supports Remasovski. He is a dissident, electorally speaking, but he votes with the ruling party and he was responding, for example, to this candidacy and says that he arrives with the Encarnación nos une movement.
That's the movement that MP Remasovski is using for these elections with 75%. Then he also imposed his will on dissent in a place that Vince visited; it was one of the first places that Vince visited and chose his candidate, he chose councilman Eduardo Florentín to be his candidate for mayor.
Yes, Colida, we can see how Paraguarí is doing. I want to know how Paraari is doing.
Why do we want to know where Paraguarí is? Because, you see, there is a very important dispute in Paraguarí, which is Juan Carlos Baruja versus the governor, Norma Saate.
So within Honor Colorado there is a faction, a very big fracture for them because they are leaders who project themselves at the national level. So it's very important to know who had more influence. Juan Carlos Baruja is the most likely candidate to be Pedro Aliana's running mate, who already has the nod of Horacio Cartes. So we have to see how they turned out, how the candidacies are doing.
Dr. Osmar leads with 48.24%.
Osmar Galeano could be.
The surname doesn't appear here, but it must be.
Yes, it 's up there. Yes, by Andrés Váez and Marcelo Simbrón.
That is, both Osmar and Andrés Baez from Honor Colorado.
Both from Honor Colorado. Yes. And with 70% already in the polls, Osmar is an ally of Juan Carlos Baruja, so we see that the minister's candidate managed to position himself. So, I wanted to say that in missions in the city of Ayolas, a candidate from Colorado NTT is winning, his name is José Muti, better known as Captain Muti, he is leading the count in that city, that is, we already have a dissident at least looking quickly, looking quickly at several important cities in our country. I also wanted to comment on the Casa Pan case, if I have the time.
Sure, go ahead. Well, uh, well, currently it is one of the poorest departments, it must be said, where there is, let's say, uh a high percentage of poverty. Unfortunately, it is a very productive department where we can find everything from soybeans to a lot of meat production, but let's say the population is not feeling the benefits.
Yes, there is a high percentage of poverty and extreme poverty. Well, currently all 11 districts of the department are in the hands of the Colorados, and one of the cities where there are more disputes is San Juan Nepomusén, where Pedro, the brother of Senator Pedro Díaz Verón, better known as Pipo Díaz, is currently winning.
Amado Díaz Verón is once again winning as mayor or candidate for mayor of the Colorado Party in that city where the opposition does not have much strength. Yes, that's what he mentioned. Just last time I was talking to a PLR leader and he told me, "Here, the opposition doesn't have much strength.
Unfortunately, that's what he was saying, we 're not able to gain more supporters, right? The Party is winning the battle against the opposition there. That's what they were telling me. And in that city, Casa Paz is winning, Amado Díaz Verón. What I also wanted to discuss with Olida was that we were seeing how everything stays in the family in a city called Yegros, in Casapros, and where one of the leaders of the department is Representative Abelino Dávalos. Abelino Dávalos, who was governor of Casaj, his wife Claudia Sosa is currently the mayor.
She is the current mayor of Yegros, and now their daughter Julieta Dávalos is the only candidate not only of the Colorado Party, but of all the parties. Pelerre doesn't have a candidate, other parties don't have candidates, I think, excuse me, I think there will be several They have candidates for city council, yes, but they don't have much strength. That's where I think they also face a challenge because they're the ones who will have the possibility of winning seats on the municipal council, not only in this city I'm mentioning, but also in San Juan de Pomusén and in the department of Casapá, where they're making inroads.
Of course, they'll form a legislative opposition in the municipal legislature.
Yes, yes. Then there's another district that's very hotly contested, San Juan Nepuceno, where Dr. Almil Carmo is currently winning. He's also from the Colorado Movement and is beating the current mayor, Derlis Molinas. He's winning the race.
Both are candidates from the Colorado Movement, and there the opposition again has a very low percentage, only 19%.
The ruling party is ahead. So, the ruling party is also ahead in Cazzapá, in the department of Casapá. These are the most contested cities, San Juan and the capital city, Casapá. The most important cities for that department, both economically and in terms of population, are the two most populated cities. And it's a shame there's no political representation, because the fact that a single sector has this control over state institutions, preventing other leaders from emerging, is truly a void for the needs of this territory. We know that this sector has been governing this department for the last few years, and it ca n't be that there aren't other options, other projects that represent the people of this city. So, this happens a lot in many towns in the interior of the country, where there's only one political representation, and what it does is control institutions, control any structure.
So, we'll see what happens.
These are the municipal elections; we have October left, and we'll have all the results soon through the Última Hora website and social media. So, follow us.
We'll end the broadcast here.
Thank you very much. Cesi.
Thank you so much, Lida. We're going to continue working to provide all the results from the TREP system, and they'll surely be officially announced throughout the week.
But the preliminary results, so to speak, will be released today, and we'll see how this snapshot of the Colorado Party's leadership plays out—the ruling party versus the opposition.
Apparently, the Cartes faction is far ahead again. We'll also see what happens in the opposition, where there aren't many disputes because they haven't presented many disparate candidates; instead, they've reached consensus and so on.
The real fight will be within the Liberal Party's leadership. That's the real dispute within the opposition right now. So, we'll see what happens. Thank you so much, and we'll see you in the next broadcast.
Goodbye.
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