Who is Pedro Alliana, the new president of Paraguay after the removal of Santiago Peña

Image source, ReutersCaption, Following Santiago Peña's resignation, Vice President Pedro Alliana assumed the presidency of Paraguay. Author, Author's title, BBC News MundoPublication date 31 minutesReading time: 5 minIn a matter of hours, Pedro Alliana went from being the vice president of Paraguay to becoming the country's president. Alliana was sworn in to the new post this Friday, shortly after Congress approved Peña's removal, who is accused of a presumed conflict of interest over his ties to the conglomerate that manages Ueno Bank. The Central Bank intervened this week in the private financial institution after detecting solvency problems. The decision left millions of Paraguayans and various public institutions without access to their savings. On the streets of Asunción, hundreds of people celebrated the Senate's decision that put an end to Peña's term. "The compatriots who are going through a difficult moment because of the financial debacle will be fully compensated. We will not leave them alone," Alliana announced this Friday during his inauguration speech before Congress. But power did not change hands. The National Republican Association (ANR), known as the Colorado Party, managed to contain the political impact of the crisis."I thank my party and reaffirm my fidelity to its doctrinal principles," the new president emphasized, amid a round of applause from the senators gathered in the chamber. Image source, ReutersFar from losing the presidency, the party managed to hold on to power with the replacement of Peña by Alliana, a Colorado leader who had already expressed his intention to run for the post in 2028. Skip Most read and continue readingMost readEnd of Most read"Pedro Alliana is a political figure with a long party career," Rocío Duarte, a doctor in Political Science and professor at the Catholic University of Asunción, tells BBC. While former president Peña represented the technocrat specialized in finance, Alliana was always seen within the party as a guarantee of closeness with the territory and Colorado militancy. For Duarte, Alliana is a leader who knows the party's "bureaucratic structure" throughout the country, which has allowed him to consolidate himself as a figure of great weight within national politics. But what was the political path that took him from Paraguay's deep south to the Presidency of the Republic?From Pilar to Asunción"I come from Ñeembucú, the land where the homeland fought for its own life," said the new president during his swearing-in before Congress this Friday. Pedro Alliana was born in Pilar, a city where the reddish dirt streets and the old colonial adobe churches look out over the Paraguay River, facing the Argentine province of Formosa, Argentina. It was in that city at Paraguay's southern tip, far from the centers of power and more accustomed to looking toward the river than toward the López Palace, where the political journey began that decades later would take him to the presidency. The son of a family linked to politics, he joined the ranks of the National Republican Association (ANR), or Colorado Party, the conservative force that has dominated much of Paraguay's political history, from a young age. Unlike Peña, whose academic training and technical career were widely recognized, Alliana's education has been surrounded by controversy. The newspaper ABC Color reported that he studied International Relations at the Autonomous University San Sebastián, after verifying his credentials with the Ministry of Education. Image source, ReutersAccording to files from the party's official website, Alliana defines himself as a "man of the countryside." The organization highlighted, some years ago, his knowledge of the needs of small, medium and large producers. His electoral career began in 2006, when he ran unsuccessfully for the mayor's office of Pilar. Far from marginalizing him from politics, that defeat ended up boosting his rise. Two years later he reached the governorship of Ñeembucú, the department where Pilar is located, the same year the Colorado Party lost the presidency of Paraguay for the first time in history. After concluding his departmental term, Alliana made the leap to Congress. He was elected deputy in 2013 and quickly consolidated his influence within the ruling party. He came to preside over the Chamber of Deputies and renewed his seat for a second term, establishing himself as one of the most influential leaders within Colorado-ism. In this way, Alliana built over the years a career based on grassroots work, which took him from the political periphery of Ñeembucú to the top of the Colorado Party."The Paraguay we receive today has urgencies that force us to be in the streets, in the hospitals and in the countryside," he said this Friday before a packed Congress, during his swearing-in ceremony as president. Image source, ReutersCaption, The day after Peña's resignation, the vice president took command of the country. Relationship with Horacio CartesIn moments of delicate stability, within Paraguay various voices agree that Alliana could not have reached the presidency without the approval of former president Horacio Cartes. "Alliana became very closely linked to former president Cartes since he entered the political arena, forming part of his inner circle," explains Rocío Duarte. However, a few weeks earlier, Alliana seemed to have distanced himself from Cartes. According to Alliana, the distancing occurred when Horacio Cartes tried to impose his running mate for the upcoming presidential elections. However, after Peña's fall, the situation changed. On Thursday afternoon, the then vice president reappeared alongside Cartes at a Colorado Party meeting in which both backed the impeachment trial against the president."Given that Cartes managed to stay on the sidelines of the Ueno Bank crisis, it is likely that there will be a rapprochement between those sectors again," adds the analyst. Now, with the presidency in his hands, Alliana's challenge will be to navigate in the short term the crisis opened by the closure of Ueno Bank. Perhaps that can help him build a leadership that allows the Colorado Party to arrive well positioned for the 2028 elections. Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries and analysis, all in one place. 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