Paraguayan leader vows war on poverty
Print Edition
Multimillionaire Horacio Cartes declared a war on poverty yesterday as he assumed the presidency of Paraguay, one of the most unequal nations in South America and a place where his business dealings have made him a target of US criminal probes.
Wearing Paraguay’s red-white-and-blue presidential sash, the tobacco magnate said he intends “to win every battle in the war we’re declaring today against poverty in Paraguay.”
“I’m not in politics to make a career of it or become wealthier,” said Cartes, 57, who promised to strengthen Paraguay’s international ties and human rights.
Cartes, whose term runs through August 2018, built a family fortune with two dozen companies that dominate industries from banking to tobacco to soft drinks to soccer. His business success will make it difficult to act as president without generating conflict of interest complaints.
Cartes never voted for president before running for the office, and often faced accusations his wealth was fed by money laundering, cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking.
Paraguayan voters overlooked these allegations, focusing on hopes the boyish-looking businessman from the dominant Colorado Party can help the country benefit more from soy profits that are boosting the economy at 10 percent a year.
He won April’s election with 46 percent support by promising to create jobs.
Inaugural organizers said his most important encounter wouldn’t be with fellow presidents but with 150 invited foreign executives he hopes can improve the country’s infrastructure as 39 percent of the population lives in poverty.
His predecessor, Fernando Lugo, also promised to combat poverty. Otherwise, the divorced tobacco magnate is nothing like the former bishop, who was impeached and ousted by congress last year.
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