Conservative President Santiago Peña of Paraguay expressed hope on Sunday that the relationship between his country and the United States would “significantly improve” once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Peña criticized the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden for “mistreating” the U.S.-friendly South American nation.
Peña, in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the Paraguayan television channel La Tele, asserted that Paraguay had been “mistreated” by the outgoing Biden administration, stressing that his country had become a “symbol” in Washington of how to poorly handle the relationship with a U.S. ally.
“I have no doubt that this will change after January 20, there will be a totally different relationship,” Peña said.
During the interview, Peña fiercely criticized the Biden administration for its decision to maintain Ambassador Marc Ostfield at the head of the U.S. embassy in Asunción despite protests and the “loss of confidence” expressed by the Paraguayan government against the U.S. diplomat this year.
Peña stated that Ostfield “damaged” the bilateral relationship after the United States imposed sanctions against former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who the United States has accused of corruption. Cartes served as president from 2013 to 2018. The sanctions were imposed on Tabacalera del Este, Paraguay’s largest cigarette manufacturer. The company stands accused by the U.S. government of providing financial support to Cartes.
Cartes, once a majority shareholder of the company, reportedly denied all allegations of corruption and said he no longer owns nor is directly involved in the cigarette manufacturer’s operations.
“I was very careful to say that this person [Ostfield] is damaging the relationship between two brotherly countries,” Peña said, pointing out that he “gently” asked for the United States to replace the ambassador.
While the Biden administration nominated Gabriel Escobar as new U.S. ambassador to Paraguay, Ostfield remains the head of the U.S. embassy in Asunción at press time. The website of the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay lists Ostfield with the pronouns “he/him.”
The Paraguayan president compared the diplomatic impasse surrounding Ostfield with that of the recent expulsion of Xu Wei, a Chinese envoy accused by the local government of undermining Paraguay’s ties with Taiwan.
Xu was part of China’s delegation that participated at a UNESCO event hosted in Asunción. Local authorities stated that Xu skipped the UNESCO event and instead met with two pro-China opposition lawmakers at the Paraguayan Congress to urge them to pressure Paraguay to cut its ties with Taiwan and embrace China instead. Paraguay is the only remaining country in South America that recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign country. It has maintained ties with Taiwan since 1957.
Peña stated in the interview that he considered the possibility of declaring ambassador Ostfield persona non grata to be a “more burdensome measure for the country” than tolerating him.
“It is very clear that the relationship between states continues, but not through him,” Peña said, stressing that he does not need “the American ambassador to speak with Washington.”
Peña further stated that ambassador Ostfield’s actions also damaged the relationship between Paraguay and the DEA. Peña asserted that the lack of satisfactory results by the DEA, together with a poor relationship with Ostfield, significantly affected bilateral security cooperation, clouding progress between both entities to a “point of friction.”
The Paraguayan president nevertheless stated that he has no doubts that Paraguay and the United States will have “a strengthened relationship in the coming months” with the return of President-elect Trump to the White House. Peña reiterated that he remains optimistic on the future of the diplomatic ties between both countries.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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