Conservative President of Paraguay Santiago Peña called for unified Latin American action so that Venezuela can fully return to democracy during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday.
The Paraguayan president called for other countries to step up and take action, stressing that the region cannot wait for the United States to solve all of their problems. Peña made similar calls for joint efforts so that free elections can also take place in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
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The conservative president affirmed that his country upholds the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception and recognizes the family as the fundamental unit of society. Peña also emphatically reiterated his country’s unwavering support of Taiwan amid tensions in Asia and called for Taiwan’s full inclusion in the United Nations and international organizations — stressing that his country is not “neutral” when it comes to Taiwan, supporting the country not out of convenience but because of the shared values of democracy, rule of law, human rights, and peace between both nations across 70 years of friendly ties.
President Peña prefaced his speech by reminding that the theme of this year’s United Nations debates is, “Restoring trust, managing transformation.” He stated that it is a “good slogan, and I wholeheartedly endorse it,” before stressing, “but let’s be honest, my friends, people no longer want slogans — people want solutions to their problems.”
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In that sense, Peña affirmed that trust cannot be regained with statements. or slogans, but rather by “facing problems without fear and proposing solutions, offering results.”
The Paraguayan president expanded upon his affirmation by referring to Venezuela.
Peña recounted that, before traveling to New York, he visited Caracas despite the two countries cutting ties during the rule of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. He noted that his decision to visit Venezuela “surprised” many, with many more fiercely questioning him over it.
“I’m taking this opportunity to say it loud and clear: I did not go to Venezuela to endorse a regime; I did not go to endorse anything at all,” Peña said. “No, gentlemen, quite the opposite. Paraguay loves democracy, and believes that the people of Venezuela also deserve democracy.”
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The Paraguayan president explained that the reason for his visit to Venezuela is because South American leaders spent 25 years “exchanging beautiful lyrical words, thunderous declarations, mottos, and slogans about Venezuela, none of which yielded any results for the country.
“For 25 years, we watched, waited, and condemned from a comfortable distance, but did nothing for the Venezuelan people. We watched. We talked. But we didn’t act,” Peña lamented. “We did nothing. And meanwhile, our Venezuelan brothers and sisters were suffering.”
As such, Peña stated, his visit to Venezuela was to take a “second step” toward democratic transition in Venezuela that follows the “much-difficult” first step that was the arrest of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro this year. Peña said he wishes for Venezuela to have the same thing his country had in 1989 after 35 years of dictatorship, a real democratic transition — affirming, “I don’t want a photo, I don’t want a statement, I want — we want — a transition.”
Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez and her delegation are greeted by U.S. Chargé d’affaires to Venezuela John Barrett on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. (X/delcyrodriguezv)
“That is why Paraguay has opened a channel of dialogue with the Venezuelan authorities and is already taking concrete steps toward a Venezuela where power rests with its sole sovereign: the people,” Peña said.
“Dialogue does not mean renouncing our principles or forgetting the past. It means having the courage to look ahead and take action. We cannot expect the United States or any other northern power to solve our problems, we have to do it ourselves,” he continued.
The Paraguayan president called upon his Latin American and U.N. peers to help Venezuela “reinsert itself in the world” and obtain a democratic government — extending the same calls, “perhaps with greater strength,” for Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
“Let’s bring light to these brother peoples,” he said. “Because where there’s free elections, there’s hope.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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