April 21, 2026 – 07:07
The seat in Congress of the Colorado Chartist senator Hernán Rivas, who is being investigated for alleged use of a false university degree, would remain vacant with the permission that Chartism in the Senate seeks to grant to the official parliamentarian. The first substitute, former Health Minister Julio Borba, would not be willing to leave the private sector, so the seat would go to the next name on the list of Colorado Party substitutes in the Upper House: former Chartist deputy Carlos Liseras.
The intention of the Senate Chamber -where the Chartist ruling party has a majority- is to shield Hernán Rivas with illegal permission and the opposition defines the quorum (ANR, Colorado Party), which will allow him to be absent from the Senate for an indefinite period of time to face the judicial processes opened against him for the alleged use of a false university degree, created a situation of certain uncertainty about who will replace the parliamentarian in the Upper House.
According to the composition of the list of substitutes of the Colorado Party in the Senate, it is appropriate that Julio Borbaformer Minister of Health of the government of Mario Abdo Benítez, take Rivas’ seat. However, rumors indicate that Borba would plan to remain in the private sector and he would have no interest in going to the Senate, so the seat would pass to the next substitute, the former Chartist deputy Carlos Liserascurrent president of the National Gaming Commission (Conajzar).
The situation has one more complication: the apparently imminent return to the country and to Congress of Gustavo Leitewho received permission from the Senate to temporarily leave his seat when he was appointed Paraguay’s ambassador to the United States.
Chartist leaders admitted that Leite’s return is almost a confirmed fact and could occur in July, so the person who takes over the seat to replace Rivas would only be in the Senate for a period of a few months.
“It would be a privilege for me to occupy that seat”
In communication with ABC Cardinal This Tuesday, former deputy Liseras pointed out that, so far, Julio Borba has not publicly expressed his willingness not to assume the seat that will be vacant in the Senate, so the seat continues to correspond to the former minister.
Read more: Leite’s return to Congress is already defined, says Senate HC leader
However, the former Chartist parliamentarian emphasized that he will assume the seat if Borba resigns.
“I am a team man, of course I am going to take over in case (Borba resigns from the bench), it would be a privilege for me to occupy that seat,” said Liseras. “I think we are prepared to take on the challenge, I trained for that, if the political team (of the official Chartist movement) Honor Colorado needs my presence in Parliament, I will be there.”
Liseras added that he will talk with the president Santiago Pena about his replacement in the ownership of Conajzar –which regulates licenses and concessions for the exploitation of games of chance in Paraguay– in the event that his move to the Senate materializes, but he indicated that there have not yet been talks about a replacement in particular.
