US pressures could undermine Cartes power in Paraguay

Significance

The spat masks growing US concern over Cartes’s overwhelming domestic political power and international activities. Cartes’s dominant Colorado Party faction has been quick to demonstrate its fervent support for him, even denouncing ‘US imperialism’.

Impacts

• Pena will be at pains to smooth over friction with Washington.
• The new blow to Cartes could erode his dominance of the political system by eroding his finances.
• Honor Colorado’s belief that a Trump victory in November would reverse the charges against Cartes appears naive.