Paraguay
Opponents link the Colorado Party internal dispute to a struggle for power, resources and control of the state
Ignacio Iramain questioned the relationship between the ANR and the state apparatus amid the crisis in Honor Colorado. Raúl Benítez also addressed the conflict and pointed to the ruling party’s internal discipline in the Chamber of Deputies.
Opposition Senator Ignacio Iramain said, in remarks reported by Última Hora, that the crisis within Honor Colorado stems from the tensions of a system in which the governing party maintains, in his view, a close connection with the state.
Iramain said that, in that context, disputes are emerging because state resources would no longer be enough to sustain “prebends” and privileges. He also said that, in his view, the party structure ends up replacing state functions and influencing policy decisions.
According to the senator, two competing models now coexist within the ruling party. On one side, he described cartismo as a “patrimonial, feudal” and vertical structure; on the other, he spoke of a newer sector seeking to displace it and which, he argued, would have accumulated economic and political strength to contest leadership.
When asked about the situation of Santiago Peña, Iramain said that the ANR has a consolidated structure of power and business interests. Along those lines, he said it is not an ideological party, but rather a space organized around interests and power balances. He also mentioned the Hambre Cero program as a tool through which the Government would have strengthened support among governors.
According to Última Hora, the lawmaker also linked the ruling-party dispute to an institutional crisis and expressed concern over the request for an investigation into the Banco Central del Paraguay. He warned about a loss of credibility for the institution and about the risks that, in his view, financial instability could bring.
Iramain added that the opposition faces difficulties in responding in a coordinated way because of its own fragmentation, since, as he said, much of that space is focused on the electoral debate.
For his part, opposition lawmaker Raúl Benítez avoided delving into the Honor Colorado internal dispute and spoke ironically about the clash between its main leaders, with an allusion to Horacio Cartes.
Benítez also criticized remarks by Pedro Alliana about ruling-party lawmakers. According to Última Hora, he said that the Chamber of Deputies operates under a logic of internal discipline and stated that Honor Colorado members usually back, as a bloc, the bills promoted by the Executive Branch.
He also said that when some ruling-party deputies try to move away from that line, they later realign. In that context, he again criticized the behavior of the Colorado caucus in the lower house.
Fuentes
Sobre esta nota. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
