Paraguay presidents re-election bid unsettles his corporate allies
Fri Apr 7, 2017 | 3:30pm EDT
By Luc Cohen | ASUNCION
Paraguayan business groups are urging the country's Congress to abandon a proposal that would allow President Horacio Cartes to seek re-election, fearing popular outrage could jeopardize his administration's progress in attracting foreign investment.
While they generally back Cartes' center-right government, they have said he should give up on running in 2018 for a second five-year term to preserve economic growth in the world's No. 4 soy exporter and keep on track the country's progress toward a coveted investment-grade credit rating.
Last Friday, a closed-door Senate vote approving a constitutional amendment for presidential re-election drove opponents to set fire to Congress. Police also stormed the opposition Liberal Party's headquarters and shot dead one protester.
"This harms the country's image. It conspires against our narrative, and our plan of action," said Daniel Elicetche, president of the Paraguayan-American Chamber of Commerce, which includes local units of 3M Co, British American Tobacco PLC and several major grains processors.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-paraguay-politics-companies-idUSKBN1792XK
