Paraguay and the United States put pen to paper this week on a new civil nuclear cooperation agreement, extending a bilateral relationship that has been warming steadily since Paraguay's conservative government took office in 2023. The signing took place Tuesday at the State Department's Colin L. Powell Treaty Room, adding atomic energy to a partnership that already touches security, trade and migration. It comes as Washington works to lock in aligned governments across Latin America — a strategic push that a Paraguayan commentator recently framed as a race against Beijing's growing economic footprint in the region.
Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano formally signed the memorandum of understanding, with the State Department's own transcript of the ceremony confirming Vice President Pedro Alliana also attended. President Santiago Peña stayed in Asunción; he and Rubio had spoken by phone the previous day, a call in which the two men stressed the importance of sustained regional coordination on Venezuela, according to ABC Color's rundown of the day's diplomacy. Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau and Under Secretary Allison Hooker rounded out the U.S. side, per the department's public daily schedule.
