Paraguayans head to the polls with Taiwan ties at stake

Paraguayans began voting on Sunday in what could be the biggest electoral challenge to the ruling conservative Colorado Party in over a decade and with the country’s long ties with Taiwan potentially at stake.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (1100 GMT) in what is expected to be a close contest between Colorado Party presidential candidate Santiago Pena, a 44-year-old economist, and 60-year-old political veteran Efrain Alegre, who is leading a broad center-left coalition and pledging a foreign policy shake-up.
In addition to the single-round winner-takes all presidential race, voters are also electing members of Congress and governors in the country of fewer than 7 million people. The first results are expected from around 7 p.m. (2300 GMT).
The Colorado Party has dominated politics in the landlocked South American country since the 1950s and has ruled for all but five of the last 75 years. But its popularity has been hit by a slowing economy and graft allegations.