president will take office. We should remember the Colorado party has been in power for 54 years, a situation that hampers any impeachment

What is the degree of support González Macchi enjoys in government

Right now President González Macchi lacks support for several reasons: for one, 6 out of 10 Paraguayans believe the country is on the wrong track and will get worse in the future. For another, the Partido Liberal –the second major party- is urging for him to resign. Besides, the Partido Colorado has a new leader –a former minister under González Macchi, Nicanor Duarte Frutos- who holds a harsh stance on the President because he wants to run for the 2003 presidency and it is not convenient for him to be linked to such a discredited president as is González Macchi. We may say he has scarce support right now, above all, among the public opinion, considering the economic failure to the use of a stolen BMW in Brazil and now suspicions that part of his family were involved in the illegal diversion of 16 million dollars into the international speculation funds of two liquidity banks in Paraguay. He is totally isolated. But the Partido Colorado does not want to remove him as the liberal Vice president would be the one to take his post.

What is Nicanor Duarte’s strategy to run for the 2003 presidential election?

Nicanor Duarte intends to run for the 2003 presidency and so he needs to break away from González Macchi. He throws harsh criticism, questions the corruption policy, it is not convenient for him to be linked to a discredited President. And at present Duarte is increasing his approval rating

Assuming González Macchi is impeached, is there the possibility to hold the elections before schedule as has been suggested by some opposition politicians

That idea was put forward by liberal Senator González Quintana and derives from his wish for González Macchi and Julio César Franco to resign and call for new elections in November building on the municipal elections due for that date too. But this proposal has not been accepted so far by any major political force. And, as I was saying, it is unlikely for the impeachment to advance due to estimates of the Partido Colorado

An overwhelming crisis is perceived: staggering rise of fiscal deficit, the State is underfunded, unemployment is twice as much as eight years ago and reaches 16%, extreme poverty soared from 21% to 29% and what is even worse, poverty has slightly reached out to the middle class.

Former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy is back on the political stage. What role has he adopted

Wasmosy has taken on a speculative stance. He counts on two important senators –Juan Carlos Galaverna and Miguel Angel Ramírez- and the presidency of the Senate will be elected in a month. In the line of succession, the president of the Senate is the third behind the Vicepresident and the President of the Republic. It may be remembered that is how González Macchi took power. He was the president of the Senate when Raúl Cubas resigned after Luis María Argaña was assassinated. He might have some strength from that but very little support from the public opinion and within the Partido Colorado.

Assuming this situation unfolds and the president of the Senate takes on once again the Head of governance. How do you think people will accept a new President reaching power under these circumstances?

It would be a difficult acceptance mainly due to the failure of the last two years. We must admit the Paraguayan population grows the most in Latin America. We have a 2.6% annual population growth meaning that in two years we have grown over 5% while the economy increased 0.9% in that period. Currently, we have the lowest per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the decade and soaring lay-offs have taken place in that period as well. The failure of this administration is quite considerable and we must take into account that the President was not elected by votes but the Vice president –who is from the opposition- was. This is what sparks a bogged situation.

The Partido Colorado is virtually institutionalized so to speak. What is the party’s reaction in view of the current crisis hitting the country?

We must take into account that Paraguay, along with Colombia and Uruguay, have the oldest political parties in the region. First, the Partido Colorado dates back to 1887. Since then, it has been in power for 75 years but in the last 54 years it has been there uninterruptedly and right now there is not a single party in the world as old as the Partido Colorado in power. Second, it has the highest registration rate in the world: one million registered members out of 5.5 million inhabitants, showing a 1 to 5 ratio. Besides, it is the nurturing source of public offices –there are almost 200 thousand public servants multiplied by five or six to see the influence it exerts on the population.

But the party is crisis, plagued by countless internal disputes. So far what we may label ‘vote of strong identity’ operates in the electoral process. Likewise, this party is deeply ingrained into the rural sector though it has suffered a strong setback last year due to Oviedo’s vote that favored the liberal candidate but that was an exception unlikely to occur again, for instance, if there was an election in six months’ time.