TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay is expected to attend next week’s presidential inauguration, reports said Tuesday (May 4).

Before taking office, Pena visited Taiwan in July 2023, while Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) led the Taiwanese delegation to Pena’s presidential inauguration the following month. The president of Paraguay was also the first ally to congratulate Lai on his victory in the Jan. 13 presidential election, per the Liberty Times.

Pena will lead his country’s delegation to attend Lai's May 20 inauguration as president and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) as vice president, the report said. Paraguay is the only of Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies to be located in South America.

Pena has used several public occasions to emphasize his country’s support for Taiwan and cross-strait peace and stability, including at a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio earlier this month.

Other diplomatic allies, including the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Eswatini, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Belize are also expected to send their head of state or head of government to the inauguration, the report said.