The Paraguayan “Payo” Cubas Colomés has been denouncing suspected electoral fraud in the presidential elections in Paraguay since Sunday, in which he surprisingly took third place. Since then, this lawyer, former senator and former congressman has criss-crossed the country from east to west, 300 kilometers accompanied by protesters who support him, giving speeches and broadcasting live on social networks. That’s exactly what he did when he was arrested this Tuesday in San Lorenzo, the largest city in the Asuncion suburbs, for “disturbing the public peace, threatening to commit a criminal offense, attempting to obstruct elections, attempting to coerce constitutional bodies and resisting.” , according to the charge list prepared by the prosecutor.
Payo Cubas, as he is known in the South American country, had planned to come to the capital to accompany the demonstrators who have been protesting outside the Supreme Electoral Court of Paraguay since Monday, where the reviews of Sunday’s vote were held , when the candidate of the right-wing Colorado party, economist Santiago Peña, won with 42% of the vote.
“Now they can see I’m already locked up. Can I take my cell phone with me?” Payo tells the police officers who arrested him. “Yes, you can take it, you can take it,” they reply. “All criminals in this country must be handcuffed and not Paraguayo Cubas,” the former candidate replied while being handcuffed. And he continues to speak from the police car into the camera.
With raised, black eyebrows, a white beard, a round face and no hair, he continues to refer to his followers in the third person as the Messiah. He quotes constitutional articles by heart, denounces the corruption of politicians, the precariousness of police officers and shouts against “corrupt commissioners who steal money”. The agents who take him to Specialized Group, the maximum security prison in Asunción, agree and support his speech throughout the trip.
Payo’s live video on social networks only breaks off after 15 minutes of driving in the patrol car, when the police politely ask him to turn off the recording.
The anti-establishment candidate
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe to
Paraguayan Cubas, born 61 years ago in Washington, USA when his father, a colonel, was stationed there, has garnered 22.9% of the vote in the presidential election. He broke all forecasts with a fascist speech and almost as populist as the other candidates. A speech that ignites like a Molotov cocktail among the poorest of a very unequal country where public services are almost non-existent and where democracy has served to govern the same Colorado party as during the dictatorship (1954-1989 ). The only time there has been a non-Colorado government in Paraguay in the past 74 years was between 2008 and 2012, when ex-Bishop Fernando Lugo ruled alongside the Liberals. His government was removed in a parliamentary process a year before his term expired.
Paraguayan Cubans speak during a campaign rally in San Lorenzo, Paraguay April 22, 2023.NORBERTO DUARTE (AFP)
Cubas calls for a dictatorship without a filter. She calls for the intervention of the military and police. He does it in Spanish and Guarani, the country’s native and most spoken language, especially in rural and working-class communities. He speaks loudly or between gentle whispers, there seems to be no middle ground. Again and again he promises a strong hand and punishment for the entire political class, without distinguishing between parties or colors. And his actions show that he means business. His fame has continued to grow, especially among young people, since seven years ago he belted a senator accused of corruption in the middle of a debate in the House of Lords or while beating a judge and shitting in his office.
Cubas scored ten points better than the most optimistic polls had predicted. His party, National Crusade, has nominated four lawmakers and five senators, including one accused of sexually abusing a minor. Cubas received almost the same votes as the usual opposition, the Liberal Party, a party of almost a million activists running alongside smaller progressive formations.
“We demand the freedom of Paraguayo Cubas and all citizens who are detained for asking for transparency,” announced Efraín Alegre in his networks, the main opposition candidate, running for the third time with the National Concertation Alliance and who also committed election fraud denounces but does not call for mobilization in the networks.
Both Alegre (27.4% of the vote) and Cubas are calling for the ballots to be checked and denounce the electoral authorities’ refusal. The National Crusade has denounced the rigging of elections at more than 60 polling stations to prosecutors.
The preliminary report of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) published on Thursday also denounces irregularities: It reports “illegal activities” in 19 percent of the monitored polling stations and also “organized transport of voters”, better known in Paraguay as “arreo “.
“The EU EOM directly observed seven cases of vote-buying and a further five indications of vote-buying,” says the preliminary report of this delegation, which was in the South American country for three months to carry out the mission.
“From prison I can become president because if I’m not convicted, I can become president,” Cubas concludes the broadcast of his arrest and calls for new elections for the last Sunday of the month, May 28th.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS America newsletter here and receive all the latest news from the region.