Paraguayan President Santiago Peña warned against socialism and promoted conservatism in an interview with Newsmax this week after speaking at his country's Conservative Political Action Conference.

Peña, in an exclusive interview from CPAC Paraguay, criticized socialism when asked about Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

"Socialism has failed time after time. There is absolutely no example of a country or a region that has implemented communism or socialism that was able to deliver prosperity for the people," Peña said.

"So what we are witnessing with countries in Latin America is that all of the countries that have implemented socialism have failed, and they have failed to deliver on the aspirations of the people."

He added that "Paraguay, on the contrary, as a conservative nation, a country that has promoted a pro-business — but also the role of the state in leveling up for those most vulnerable — the country is doing very well."

Peña noted that Paraguay is set to see "a third consecutive year of growth, close to 6%, so we are very, very excited [about] Paraguay leading by example."

Peña said that he has no wish to dictate to other nations, "but I will share what is that we are doing as a country with low taxes, low inflation, pro-business. We understand that job creation is the best social policy. So we want to provide for the most vulnerable. We have to generate job conditions for them."

He later spoke about the principles of conservatism, saying that "Conservatism is just common sense. The Constitution protects life from inception. The Constitution preserves marriage as the union between the man and a woman. We think that family is at the core of the society, and these are principles and values that are embraced by the population at large."

Peña noted that Paraguay "is a mostly Catholic country — 90% or more than 90% is Catholic — so faith plays a very, very important role."

He said, "We know that there are no shortcuts. We need to work very hard. We need to work with countries that feel the same way about these values and principles. And for many, many years, we have been doing this work on a very silent mode without moving too much … Now, Paraguay is ready to raise its voice and maybe be a lighthouse for other countries in the region."

Peña also commented that when it comes to drug trafficking and other security concerns, "Paraguay plays a major role in defense and security for the Western Hemisphere, and we are working very, very hard with the U.S. to strengthen our capability and also our presence here in the region."

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