Santiago Pena, a conservative economist from Paraguay, has won the country’s presidential election, securing a long-standing alliance with Taiwan and tightening the grip of the ruling Colorado Party on the country’s politics. With 99.9% of votes counted, Pena has a lead of over 15 percentage points over his rival Efrain Alegre, who had argued in favour of dropping ties with Taiwan and switching allegiance to China. Pena has claimed victory in the country’s Congressional elections as well. His victory demands that he must address the rising pressure from beef and soy producers to move away from Taiwan in search of bigger and better markets in China, while maintaining a stable fiscal economy.