Paraguayan President-elect Santiago Pen~a arrived in Taiwan yesterday, with a
group of incoming government officials for a 5-day visit.

Pen~a says he is looking forward to meeting with government officials and
private sector representatives in Taiwan during his July 11th to 15th visit,
to explore ways to "reinforce the friendship" between Taipei and the
Paraguayan capital Asuncio'n, that was built on 66 years of diplomatic
relations between the two countries.

President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, who is also the
Democratic Progressive Party's presidential nominee, will meet with the
Paraguayan delegation separately and discuss issues of interest to both
countries.

Pen~a, who favors maintaining Paraguay's diplomatic ties with Taiwan,
received nearly 44 percent of the vote in April's presidential election,
defeating his main rival Efrain Alegre, who had pledged to switch diplomatic
allegiance from Taipei to Beijing during his election campaign.

Currently, Paraguay is one of the 13 independent states that maintains
diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and the only one in South America.