Paraguay will have a woman president for the first time in its history, at least temporarily, after outgoing leader Horacio Cartes stepped down Monday ahead of schedule.
Vice President Alicia Pucheta, 68, will complete Cartes’s mandate after he resigned to become a senator.
On August 15, fellow conservative Mario Abdo Benitez, elected in April 22 polls, will begin his five-year term as president of one of Latin America’s poorest countries.
The parliament is due to confirm Cartes’s resignation and proclaim Pucheta as interim president on Wednesday.
Opposed to the legalization of abortion, Pucheta is from the right-wing Colorado Party, which has been in power in Asuncion for decades.
Opposition Senator Desiree Masi said she does not see Pucheta’s nomination as an advance for women in Paraguay.
