After Donald Trump’s midterm poll rout, South America breathes easy as far-right feels the heat

Reduced to a lame-duck President, Donald Trump himself could now become a jinx for the far right across South America. File photo | Photo Credit: AP On Wednesday (November 4, 2026), rising tensions in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, turned violent as hundreds of thousands stormed the streets to protest locking out of their accounts in the country’s biggest bank. As fires burned and people anxiously queued outside the collapsed bank, President Santiago Pena, a former shareholder in the bank, announced his resignation.But as Congress moved to impeach him, Mr. Pena disappeared amid rumours that he had fled to Argentina — just as Brazilian far-right leader Flávio Bolsonaro did last week before fleeing to U.S. after losing the election to President Lula da Silva. “We have information that he left the country without telling anyone. I think he went to Argentina and sought asylum,” said Paraguayan Senator Antonio Velázquez on Thursday (November 5, 2026). Published - November 06, 2026 03:22 pm IST