Temer attends inauguration of Paraguay’s new president

President Michel Temer is flying to Paraguay next Thursday (Aug. 15), accompanied by lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia, Senate head Eunício Oliveira, where he is to attend the inauguration ceremony of the country’s new leader, Mario Abdo Benítez.

The trip brings Supreme Court Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia to the presidency of Brazil for the fifth time.

During Temer’s last official trips, Maia and Oliveira also had appointments overseas, which is why they did not serve as acting president. Under Brazilian law, the two were forced to join the president overseas again in order not to take his place in Brazil, which would bar them from running for any office other than the presidency in the coming elections.

Brazil was the destination of Benítez’s first trip abroad after the election. In June, he was welcomed by Temer, when the two talked about the construction of bridges linking Paraguay and Brazil and joint efforts against organized crime, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

Paraguay’s elections were held on April 22, when Maria Abdo garnered 46.49 percent of the vote, followed by Efraín Alegre with 42.73 percent, a gap of some 95 thousand votes.