With 94.7% of the votes counted, Paraguay’s Superior Court of Electoral Justice said that Santiago Pena from the ruling conservative Colorado Party was ahead in the Sunday election with 42.93%. His closest rival Efrain Alegre from the Authentic Radical Liberal Party had 27,52%. With over 99.47% of the votes counted, the Electoral Court said Pena had 42.73%.
"Opposition forces failed to unite and stand against the ruling party," Pisarev told Sputnik, adding that "US attempts to intervene in the election campaign did not affect the results. It is known that the main target of their attacks was Horacio Cartes, the current president of the Colorado [party]. American sanctions did not prevent his party and his supporter Santiago Pena from achieving victory. The last word in this campaign was with the people of Paraguay, and they expressed their will quite clearly."
The United States sanctioned Paraguay’s former president Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara and current Vice President Hugo Adalberto Velazquez Moreno for alleged corruption in January.
Paraguayans went to the polls on Sunday to elect the next president of the Latin American nation. In addition to the presidential race, Paraguayans also voted for vice president, lawmakers and governors on Sunday. The Colorado Party won the majority in both chambers of Paraguay’s Congress.
Paraguay’s Incumbent President Mario Abdo Benitez has already congratulated Pena on winning in the presidential election.
"Congratulations to the Paraguayan people for their great participation in this election day and to the president-elect Santiago Pena. We will work to initiate an orderly and transparent transition that strengthens our institutions and the country's democracy," Benitez said on Twitter on Sunday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez have both congratulated Pena via Twitter.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday congratulating Peno on his victory and highlighting the "exemplary" voting process, in which the authorities and the Paraguayan people reaffirmed the strength of their democracy and their institutions.