Paraguayan President Santiago Pena said that Taiwan and Paraguay are “not just allies, but also brothers” when he was sworn in as the South American country’s new president on Tuesday.
Pena took the presidential oath outside the government palace in the capital of Asuncion in a ceremony attended by several regional leaders and Vice President William Lai (賴清德).
Paraguay is the only country in South America, and among 12 governments around the world, to have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Taipei lost a key ally in the region earlier this year when Honduras cut diplomatic ties with it.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s Presidential Office
“We will build alliances and cooperation with a geostrategic vision, seeking horizontal agreements,” Pena said, adding that the country’s relationship with Taiwan “is an example of this and of Paraguay’s friendly and cooperative spirit with nations for which we have deep affection and with whom we feel not only as allies, but also like brothers.”
Before leaving on the trip on Saturday, Lai said his visit to Paraguay was in part “so that the international society understands Taiwan is a country that persists in its democracy, human rights and freedom and actively takes part in international affairs.”
When Pena, 44, visited Taiwan last month, he told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that his country would “stand with the people of Taiwan” during his five-year term.
Photo courtesy of Lai’s delegation via CNA
Pena, an economist, easily won election earlier this year, keeping the long-ruling Colorado Party in power for five more years.
Ambassador to Paraguay Jose Han (韓志正) published photographs on social media of Lai making chipa, a traditional cheese-flavored roll, and drinking terere, an infusion popular in the South American country.
“He loved the traditional flavors of Paraguay,” the ambassador wrote.
Photo courtesy of Lai’s delegation via CNA
Meanwhile, Lai said that he had “interacted naturally” with leaders and envoys from other countries at the inauguration of Pena earlier on Tuesday, including US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Spain’s King Felipe VI.
Lai was also filmed by the media greeting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other South American leaders.
Lai later said he introduced himself to them as “vice president of the Republic of China, Taiwan,” but declined to reveal what they said during the ceremony.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last night said that Lai did not sign any official document during the trip.
The ministry said that a Spanish-language document circulating online that purports to be an agreement Lai signed with the Paraguayan government for a new housing project in the South American country is a forgery.
In a statement, the ministry said that it found several online posts written in simplified Chinese characters attached to the forged document after Lai arrived in Asuncion.
Simplified Chinese characters are used in the People’s Republic of China, while Taiwan uses traditional Chinese characters.
The ministry said that it has reported the case to local police, while urging Taiwanese not to fall for misinformation being spread online as part of an ongoing “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA
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