Conservative President of Paraguay Santiago Peña delivered an ominous warning on the evils of left-wing violence, citing the assassinations of Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday.
In his speech, his third at the UNGA, Peña called upon others to react meaningfully to the “macabre” response from the left to those assassinations and warned that political violence is a threat to democracy’s values.
Peña reiterated his country’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal jihadists and reiterated Paraguay’s decision to maintain its decades-long relations with Taiwan, upholding its principles over embracing communist China. Peña also condemned the repression in socialist Venezuela and the ongoing persecution of politicians and Catholics in communist Nicaragua.
The Paraguayan president said that he thought about starting his speech by expressing the joy he felt of being able to fly to New York and tell everyone about the great things that await Paraguay — but that the events of the past days have made that impossible.
“Indeed, in recent days we have seen that evil, radical ideology, and intolerance are unfortunately real and deeply rooted in certain sectors of our societies,” Peña said, expressing that he still feels shocked, saddened, and distressed by the assassinations of Uribe and Kirk.
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“First, intolerance and hatred took the life of a great human being, Miguel Uribe, the Colombian presidential candidate, who was assassinated in public during a tour of a plaza. The ghosts of violence, which we thought were a thing of the past for our brothers and sisters in Colombia,” Peña said. “Second, we saw a young dreamer, Charlie Kirk, miserably torn away from his wife and two children for a single sin: defending his convictions and values with great eloquence and courage.”
“Both, instead of resorting to violence to impose their ideas, resorted to the most civic and peaceful method possible: free, open, frank debate — without shying away from controversial positions — but always within the framework of respect,” he continued, and warned, “The ominous, macabre response must wake us from our sleepy state of complacency.”
Tens of thousands of people packed into the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 20, 2025, to honor the life of Charlie Kirk. (Alana Mastrangelo/Breitbart News)
The Paraguayan president continued by further warning that the values of democracy that allow everyone to live in peace despite their differences stand at risk and called on everyone to take a stand in times when “darkness seeks to extinguish the light.”
“This is no time for the timid, gentlemen. Either we are on the right side, on the side of peace and reason, or we are on the side of violence and intolerance,” he said. “Our children and grandchildren will not forget the stance we took in the face of the enormous challenge we faced.”
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“That is why I want to be very clear with you: political violence is immoral, intolerable, and deeply harmful. We must reject it without reservation,” he continued.
Peña further stressed that one must not underestimate the gravity of what is happening, as “these are not isolated cases: they are patterns.” The situation, he said, has been worsening “under the impassive gaze of governments and political movements and that as such, polarization and extremism, once subtly revealed in texts and speeches, “are now materializing in real acts of violence.”
Peña, touching upon the subject of supply chains, emphasized that “not all commercial associations are equal,” and suggested to exercise caution with “deceitful economic models” that come accompanied with political authoritarianism, mass surveillance, and the erosion of fundamental liberties. As one of the few countries in the world with no significant ties to communist China, his statements appeared to reference that regime.
“When we accept investments that compromise our sovereignty, when we allow our critical infrastructure to depend on authoritarian regimes, we are mortgaging not only our economy, but our democracy,” Peña said. He called for deeper integration with other countries that are not just based on trade, but on shared values such as rule of law, individual freedom, the free market, the defense of the traditional family, and the right to life from the moment of conception.
Peña celebrated his country’s 67-year-old relations with Taiwan as a friendship forged in shared democratic values and as proof that cooperation between nations can be based beyond mere interests. He called upon the U.N. to grant Taiwan a spot in the organization as a matter of “strict justice.”
“Surely, this decision [relations with Taiwan] will undoubtedly cost us a lot financially, but believe me: the value of doing the right thing is priceless,” he said.
On Israel, Peña reaffirmed his country’s unambiguous support of Israel’s right to defend itself, and condemned the brutal October 7, 2023, terrorist attack. Peña rejected any attempt to “biasedly equate” the actions of the democratically elected Israeli authorities with the actions of the jihadist terror group Hamas.
“Anti-Semitism, ladies and gentlemen, as daily events demonstrate, is not an accident of the twentieth century: it is alive and well. It is part of that cycle of irrational violence and hatred that I mentioned at the beginning of my speech,” Peña said.
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“I must confess here that I have never understood how so many people have adopted this horrible worldview, given that the Jewish people have given so much to the world, both materially and spiritually. And yet, unfortunately, this perversion continues among us,” he continued.
The Paraguayan president concluded by stating that although he presented a somber panorama in his speech, he remains optimistic at heart and looks forward to the future with hope.
“That different future is possible. We Paraguayans are building it every day,” he said. “I invite you to build it with us, all together, to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren—a world with more democracy, more freedom, more tolerance, and more justice.”
“A world in which hope defeats pessimism, light prevails over darkness, and good triumphs victoriously —forever and ever — over evil,” he concluded.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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