While Paraguay’s elections are generally credible and well organized, politics have historically been dominated by the conservative Colorado Party, and most recently by a faction of the party led by former President Horacio Cartes. Corruption and organized crime remain widespread. Journalists face legal and other pressure and sometimes violence in response to their work, and many practice self-censorship. Constitutional guarantees of due process are poorly upheld. Gender-based violence is persistent. The rights of rural and Indigenous people are threatened by commercial development and associated environmental damage.

• In February, allies of former President Horacio Cartes in the Senate led a successful vote to expel Senator Kattya González of the opposition Encuentro Nacional (National Meeting) party over alleged administrative misconduct. Rights groups said that the vote against González violated due process, and the development prompted protests in the capital. González—known for criticism of government corruption and one of only a few prominent opposition figures in the country—said the vote was a move to silence her.
• In November, a new law that granted the government power to shut down nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that failed to comply with new reporting regulations took effect. The measure, also supported by Cartes’s political faction, required groups to regularly document the sources and destination of their funding and submit the information to a government register. Opposition parties, UN experts, and local and international rights organizations said the law would effectively allow the government to persecute groups it considered hostile. The rights group Amnesty International compared it to similar measures in effect in Russia and Nicaragua. Faith groups, political parties, and football clubs were exempt from its provisions.
• The news portal ABC Color reported in July that according to public documentation, at least 49 percent of Paraguay’s lawmakers had placed children, spouses, and other relatives in government jobs, drawing combined salaries—funded by taxpayers—worth 18,800,000,000 guarani ($2.5 million) annually.
• In August, police raided the home of Eulalio Gomes, a rancher and Colorado Party deputy, in relations to a narcotrafficking and money-laundering case. Gomes was killed in a subsequent shootout with police. Paraguay’s public prosecutor said Gomes and his son had been indicted in a trafficking scheme involving a Brazilian organized crime group just before the raid took place. The Gomes family denied the charges and accused the police of excessive force. Analysts said the episode underlined institutional weakness, corruption, and insecurity in the country.

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For additional background information, see last year’s full report.