Santiago Penadefeated the center-left coalition of four dozen parties this Sunday and will be the new president ofParaguay starting August 15.
Peña, from the conservativeColorado Party, won the elections with almost43% of the votes, above the 27.4% ofEfrain Alegre, who led a center-left coalition, as revealed in thepress.
"Thanks to those who gave us their dreams, trusted in this project, placed their hopes so that we can be better, and we will be better," Peña said when celebrating the victory.
The far right of controversial Paraguayan Cubas Colomés, garnered 22% of support.
The polls closed at approximately 4:00 pm. of Paraguay, for the first vote count.
InThat country There is no second round of elections and re-elections are not allowed.
The current president,Mario Abdo Benitez, promised an "orderly and transparent" transition and recognized Peña's victory, according to othersmedia of press.
Efraín Alegre, for his part, admitted defeat and said: "The division has meant that we have not been able to reach the requested change goal.
International observers highlighted the "high participation", which exceeded 63%, higher than that of the elections five years ago.
"With their votes, Paraguayans stopped the leftist tidethat in recent years has flooded Latin America and where, in addition to your country, only Uruguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala have governments with a conservative tendency," said the newspaperABC.
Peña, 44 years old, initially coming from the liberal ranks,economistconservative and former Minister of Finance of Paraguay, became the new elected president, and managed to retain power for the Colorado Party, amid accusations of corruption against its main leaders.
Colorado was Alfredo Stroessner's party during his 35 years of dictatorship and then led the democratic transition starting in 1989.
It fell in 2008, due to its internal divisions, before the alliance between liberals and leftists of former bishop Fernando Lugo.
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