The Paraguayan embassy in Israel, like what happens with regard to the recognition of Taiwan, is a major point of divergence in the area of foreign relations between the main candidates for the presidency of the South American country.
The election will take place this Sunday (30) and Santiago Peña, from the governing Partido Colorado, and Efraín Alegre, who heads an opposition coalition ranging from left to center-right, appear in the top positions in polls of voting intentions.
This week, in a statement sent to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Alegre stated that he would keep the Paraguayan embassy in Tel Aviv if elected.
He cited United Nations Security Council resolutions that “made clear the status of Jerusalem, not accepting its annexation or its declaration as the capital of Israel. This position is shared by all nations, with only a few exceptions”.
“There is great potential for exchange and cooperation between Paraguay and Israel, and Paraguay will continue to defend Israel’s right to a peaceful existence. Indeed, there is a long relationship of friendship between our nations. Paraguay’s vote at the United Nations in 1947 was the one that gave the majority for the recognition of Israel as an independent state. These close ties were not, and are not now, subject to the status of Jerusalem,” added the opposition candidate.
Peña, for his part, reiterated in a debate organized by the Paraguayan-Israel Chamber of Commerce (Cacopi) in March that one of his first actions if elected will be to transfer the Paraguayan embassy to Jerusalem. “Our country recognizes this city as the capital of the State of Israel,” he said.
The international recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is an old demand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at the end of 2022 returned to power.
In December 2017, the United States, then chaired by Donald Trump, announced the transfer of its embassy to Jerusalem, and the following year, the then Paraguayan president, Horacio Cartes, took the same measure.
However, a few months later, his successor and current president, Mario Abdo Benítez (a Cartes and Peña co-religionist), backtracked and moved the embassy back to Tel Aviv.
“Paraguay wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad, just and lasting peace in the Middle East”, justified the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Alberto Castiglioni.
Today, only the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo maintain embassies in Jerusalem.
The Jewish community in Paraguay is anxiously waiting for the country to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem again, although it does not support any candidate in the presidential election.
“We, as a community, maintain very good relations with all governments and will continue to work with whoever is elected,” Mariano Mirelman, executive director of the Jewish Community of Paraguay, told JTA.
Penã and Alegre also manifested differences over the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan throughout the campaign. Paraguay is one of the 13 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the island, but Alegre informed that, if elected, he would break those ties and recognize China.
Peña pointed out that, in an eventual government of his, he will seek to strengthen trade relations with China, but he will maintain recognition of Taiwan.
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