LAS VEGAS – Paraguay’s new ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Leite, used the Republican Jewish Coalition summit on Saturday to set out an unabashedly pro-Israel agenda, calling his country’s Jerusalem embassy a historic and religious affirmation, pledging to strengthen ties with Israel and Taiwan, and inviting Israeli and American investment into what he described as one of Latin America’s most stable, fastest-growing economies.
Leite, a former minister and current senator who was asked by President Santiago Peña to take the Washington posting earlier this year, said he formally presented his credentials to US President Donald Trump on September 5.
“I am almost two months in the job,” he said, noting that the Washington post is “a very strategic” assignment for Asunción.
He said his top task is visibility.
“Paraguay is an ally that, since 1945, never voted without or against the US or Israel in the UN,” Leite told The Jerusalem Post on the sidelines of the summit. “We never create problems. That is why people do not hear about us. We want to share in the prosperity of our allies.”
Leite framed Paraguay’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in religious, historical, and political terms that he said resonate deeply with most Paraguayans. “There is no doubt in the mountains of Paraguay that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel by the sacred books and by history. It is a political statement, and a historic and religious fact that, to us, Jerusalem is the true capital of Israel,” he said.
Paraguay first moved its embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018 under then-president Horacio Cartes. However, the decision was reversed months later when a new administration took office. The embassy was reopened in Jerusalem last December, in a ceremony attended by Peña and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Government and international reports at the time described the reopening as a significant diplomatic boost for Israel.
The ambassador, who said he has visited Israel nine times, also disclosed family roots in the Jewish world. His great-grandfather, he recounted, emigrated from Minsk to the Americas in the early 20th century, with relatives settling in Argentina and Peru. While he was raised Catholic, Leite said the family story helped shape his affinity for Israel and the Jewish people.
He also described helping connect Paraguayan students with Hebrew University innovation programs before the pandemic, calling academic collaboration “a bridge that brings our societies closer.”
Leite condemned Hamas’s October 7 massacre as “terrible, an animal attack, not a human attack,” and said Asunción stood with Israel “from the first moment and always will.”
He added that relations remained strong even after the 2018 reversal, and that under Peña “the bond is fully mended.”
Asked about policy priorities for his tenure in Washington, Leite said he wants to convert goodwill into concrete partnerships.
“Paraguay is going to grow 6% this year, with 4% inflation, the same exchange rate as in 2002, poverty down by 50% in the last 25 years, and a 10% income tax,” he said. “If you were to design a conservative society with free market economics and low taxes, that is Paraguay. We want Israeli and US investors to take a look.”
He said he is studying how pro-Israel advocacy operates in Washington, as he seeks to build a bipartisan “Paraguay caucus” on Capitol Hill.
“I was a speaker at AIPAC in 2016,” he said. “We are trying to put together the story and the facts, so that our friends in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, understand what Paraguay brings to the table.”
The relevant parts of the AIPAC “playbook” he is probably referencing are bipartisan branding, year-round fly-ins, targeted district pressure, and policy asks tied to specific authorizations or appropriations. AIPAC publicly describes its mission as “building bipartisan support for the US-Israel relationship,” which is the kind of language caucuses often emulate when writing their purpose statements.
In addition, Paraguay relaunched its Congressional Israel Allies Caucus in 2023 as part of the Israel Allies Foundation’s global network. That gave Leite a ready bridge to pro-Israel, faith-based lawmakers in Washington.
Leite emphasized Paraguay’s unusual alignment with both Israel and Taiwan
“We have an embassy in Jerusalem, we have an embassy in Taipei, and we have a good relationship with Washington,” he said, noting that Paraguay has maintained full diplomatic ties with Taiwan since the 1950s and remains Taipei’s only South American diplomatic partner. Taiwan and Paraguay celebrated the 68th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in July, marking the formal ties that began in 1957.
The envoy’s message in Las Vegas reminded us of what he told the Post more than a decade ago, when he was Paraguay’s minister of industry and commerce. In a 2013 interview, Leite argued that Paraguay’s tax regime and business climate could make it a launchpad for Israeli innovators seeking access to Latin American markets. He made a similar pitch at the RJC summit, stating that Paraguay is already rated investment-grade by one agency and is working toward a second.
“I am convinced and my government is convinced that Israel has a longtime ally in South America,” he said in 2013 to then Post correspondent Sharon Udasin. “But now we can be a very reliable business partner, to transform Israeli ingenuity into products produced in Paraguay.”
“We want to be like Israel. We want to be like Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,” he said. “God-fearing, hardworking, free market economics and family values. That is the most important.”
Jerusalem embassy: History and present
Paraguay’s Jerusalem embassy has been an example of the close relations with Israel, as well as a compass of the internal politics in Asunción.
The 2018 move of the Paraguay Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, carried out by Cartes, drew international attention. The swift reversal by the next president, Mario Abdo Benítez, strained ties with Jerusalem at the time, and Israel responded by closing its embassy in Asunción. Peña’s decision to restore the embassy in 2024, coupled with supportive remarks during the opening ceremony, was widely viewed in Israel as a restoration of the relationship’s trajectory.
Leite said those ups and downs did not change the underlying worldview held by many Paraguayans. He described a Christian majority that reads the Hebrew Bible in church and therefore “hears the word ‘Jerusalem’ at least three times” in every service. That religious familiarity, he said, helps explain why recognizing Jerusalem resonates beyond politics in Paraguay.
Beyond the embassy issue, Leite outlined areas where he believes Paraguay and Israel can collaborate effectively. He cited agritech, water technology, logistics, and energy as sectors where Israeli companies can find opportunities in Paraguay’s economy. He also called for renewed academic and start-up exchanges, reverting to the pre-pandemic model he helped introduce with the Hebrew University.
He portrayed Paraguay as a dependable partner for the United States at a time when great-power competition is intensifying in Latin America. He said Asunción has resisted pressure to downgrade ties with Taiwan, and intends to continue resisting such pressure, while welcoming diversified trade and investment. In July, officials in Taipei and Asunción reaffirmed the durability of the relationship, and Paraguay’s leadership publicly celebrated the anniversary of the ties.
Leite served as minister of industry and commerce from 2013 to 2018. He returned to private business before winning a Senate seat in 2023, where he said he chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee. He accepted Peña’s request to take the US portfolio in June and arrived in Washington over the summer.
The ambassador reiterated that his country’s alignment with Israel is not a one-off. “We were one of the first to stand with Israel after October 7,” he said. “We will always be there.”
According to Leite, Paraguay offers macroeconomic stability, a young workforce, and a welcoming tax structure, along with a strategic location for companies looking to serve regional markets. He argued that disputes can be resolved under predictable rules of law, which he contrasted with challenges investors face in certain large markets.
“We are part of the developed world in our aspirations and our direction,” he said. “We are growing. We are not there yet, but the path is clear.”
As for Israel, the new envoy said his personal ties to the country and the Jewish world will remain a source of motivation. He said he plans to return to Israel during his tenure to promote economic ties, education exchanges, and tourism, and to deepen collaboration among universities, hospitals, and research centers.
Leite added that the embassy’s restoration in Jerusalem is both symbolic and practical. “It tells Israelis that Paraguay sees history clearly,” he said. “And it tells investors that Paraguay keeps its word.”
Leite closed the conversation in Las Vegas with a direct pitch to Israeli entrepreneurs and American Jewish business leaders.
“Let us do business together,” he said. “Come see Paraguay. You will find partners who share your values, and a country that is ready to work.”