Paraguayo Cubas
Senator of Paraguay
In office
1 July 2018 – 28 November 2019
National Deputy of Paraguay
In office
1 July 1993 – 1 July 1998
ConstituencyAlto Paraná
Personal details
Born
Paraguayo Cubas Colomés

(1962-01-08) 8 January 1962 (age 62)
Washington, D.C., United States
Political partyNational Crusade Party (since 2018)
Other political
affiliations		National Encounter Party (1993–1998)
SpouseYolanda Paredes
Alma materNational University of Asunción
ProfessionLawyer

Paraguayo "Payo" Cubas Colomés (born 8 January 1962) is a Paraguayan politician and media personality known for what some see as provocative publicity stunts. A lawyer, he served one term in Congress from 1993 to 1998 as a member of the center-left National Encounter Party. In 2018, Cubas was elected to the Senate as a sole member of the National Crusade Movement but was suspended for outbursts and physical altercations with Senate colleagues.[1]

On the eve of the 2023 general election, Cubas with his party participated in the creation of the Concertación coalition,[2] but soon left it before the election of a single opposition candidate, deciding to participate in the elections independently.[3] In the 2023 elections, Cubas was considered an outsider or spoiler candidate for the Concertación. However, he had support among the anti-establishment electorate, advocating the death penalty for corruption.[1][4] He finished third, with almost 23% of the vote.[citation needed]

Controversies

Cubas was arrested in 2016 after hitting a judge with a belt and defecating in the office of the judge's secretary.[5] In 2021, he was reported to have punched and kicked an electoral prosecutor, as well as having stole his kepi.[6]

After losing the 2023 presidential election, Cubas claimed that there was widespread fraud, saying that the election was "stolen",[7] despite declarations from observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union that any possibility of fraud was discarded.[8][9] After the statements, numerous protests and blockades were reported in different parts of the country by Cubas sympathizers, particularly in front of the headquarters of the Electoral Justice Superior Court (TSJE) in Asunción.[10] On 5 May, police announced that Cubas had been arrested, and was being held in "preventative detention".[11][12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Meet the Candidates: Paraguay". Americas Quarterly. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Opositores fijan comicios para elegir chapa presidencial". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Cubas inscribe su chapa tras salir de la Concertación". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  4. ^ "2023 Elections in Latin America: A Preview". AS/COA. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  5. ^ "La Nación / Paraguayo Cubas le pegó a juez y defecó en su despacho". www.lanacion.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Incidentes en CDE: Paraguayo Cubas golpea y roba quepis del fiscal electoral". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Paraguayo Cubas: "Nos robaron las elecciones" de Paraguay". Deutsche Welle (in Spanish). 2 May 2023.
  8. ^ "La Unión Europea descartó que se haya cometido fraude en las elecciones generales de Paraguay". Infobae (in Spanish). 3 May 2023.
  9. ^ "OEA asegura que no hay razón para dudar de las elecciones". Ultima Hora (in Spanish). 2 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Protestas en Asunción ante Tribunal Superior de Justicia por supuesto fraude electoral". CNN en Español (in Spanish). 2 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Third-place finisher in Paraguay's presidential election arrested". Al Jazeera.
  12. ^ "Paraguay presidential candidate Cubas arrested after post-election protests". Reuters.
  13. ^ Politi, Daniel (5 May 2023). "Paraguay far-right populist presidential candidate arrested". AP. Retrieved 24 October 2023.


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