Join us for a public talk and fireside discussion with honored guest H.E. President Santiago Peña of Paraguay. A former finance minister and economist, President Peña has played a pivotal role in Paraguay’s economic reforms and regional leadership. He will discuss Paraguay’s evolving role in Latin American politics, economic development, and the challenges shaping its future.

Biography

Santiago Peña Palacios was born November 16, 1978, in Asunción, the Capital of the Republic of Paraguay. He is the youngest President of the democratic era of his country.

The President has been married for 25 years to Mrs. Leticia Ocampos, Architect. At the age of 17, Mr. Peña became the father of his first child and today, he has two children, Gonzalo and Constanza.

After finishing his undergraduate studies at the Catholic University of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, he gained the title of Bachelor in Economics. Then, he travelled to the United States of America, where he completed his graduate studies for a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Columbia University in New York.

His Career

Mr. Santiago Peña worked at the Central Bank of Paraguay between 2000 – 2009 at the Department of Monetary and Financial Studies of the Monetary Studies Management, and in the Department of Open Market Operations (DOMA, for its acronym in Spanish). Then, he served at the African Department of the International Monetary Fund. Afterwards, became an Analyst at the Department of the International Monetary Fund.

Before his designation as Minister of Finance of Paraguay, he held the position of Member of the Directory at the Central Bank of Paraguay.

He also taught as an Associate Professor of Financial Theory in 2004 and was a Tenured Professor of Economic Theory in 2005 at the Catholic University of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.

Mr. Peña published several researches on monetary policy and finance fields. In 2017, he was invited by the Ecuadorian Professor Roberto Izurieta to participate as a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Political Management of the University of George Washington, where Mr. Peña shared his experience on public administration in Paraguay. He also was the thesis advisor of Geovanny Vicente Romero, CNN Columnist and Professor at Columbia University.

Source: Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the United Nations, September 2023