The Latest Breaking News from Efrain Alegre

Asuncion (AFP) - Paraguayans on Sunday elected a president from the rightwing party in power for nearly eight decades, rejecting a center-left challenger who had railed against endemic institutional corruption.

Paraguay's President-elect Santiago Pena, a clean-cut former central bank director, will need all his wits and cool to steer the South American nation through economic headwinds hurting voters and rising pressure from farmers to cut ties with Taiwan.

Asuncion (AFP) - Future ties with Taiwan are in play as Paraguayans go to the polls Sunday to pick a president they hope will tackle endemic corruption, rising crime and economic inequality.

In Paraguay's election on Sunday, Soledad Nunez, a 40-year-old engineer and former minister, is looking to break into the South American country's male-dominated political arena as its first elected female vice president.

In the heart of Paraguay's capital Asuncion, a tropical city close to the Argentine border, voters are gearing up for election day on Sunday, with the economy, corruption and Taiwan on their minds.

Paraguayan opposition leader Efrain Alegre can trace some of the fire for his 2023 presidential run to three weeks he spent behind bars two years ago on what he says were trumped up corruption charges related to campaign financing.

From Paraguayan capital Asuncion to Taipei and Washington, diplomats, officials - and farmers - are closely watching a tight election race that could determine Paraguay's future ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan said on Thursday it was perplexed by Paraguay's main opposition presidential candidate questioning the benefits of keeping relations with Taipei, just a month after Beijing prised away its ties with another Latin American country.

Paraguay's main opposition presidential candidate Efraín Alegre will favor "austerity" to cut public sector spending over raising taxes on the country's farmers if he wins the country's April 30 election, he told Reuters in an interview.