U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Paraguayan President Pedro Alliana about relations between their countries and cooperation on security, trade, technology, investment, and development. (Foto: Instagram)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Paraguay’s new president, Pedro Alliana, on Sunday, Nov. 8, to discuss relations between the countries after former President Santiago Peña’s removal from office. Peña was impeached and arrested in connection with the Banco Ueno financial scandal.
Alliana described the call in a post on X dated Nov. 9. He said he and Rubio discussed the countries’ relations and reaffirmed their commitment to work together on security, technology, trade, investment and development. Alliana also thanked Rubio for inviting him to a future meeting and for his willingness to strengthen the strategic partnership between Paraguay and the United States.
Peña had been aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump. During his administration, Paraguay joined the U.S.-led “Shield of the Americas” alliance, allowed U.S. military activities on Paraguayan territory and reached an agreement for the United States to use power from the Itaipu hydroelectric plant for artificial intelligence projects with a Paraguayan company.
Alliana, who served as Peña’s vice president before taking over the presidency, belongs to the same political party, the Colorado Party. He has also demonstrated alignment with Trump’s conservative policies in Latin America.
Peña was impeached Friday, Nov. 6, over his connection to Banco Ueno, which collapsed after a financial scandal and left thousands of Paraguayans unable to access their deposits. Peña held shares in the group that controlled the bank until 2025 and appointed a former Ueno executive to lead Paraguay’s Central Bank. He is in preventive detention and is under investigation by Paraguay’s judicial authorities.
