Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met on Monday with Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Darío Ramírez Lezcano at the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry in Asuncion, the country’s capital.
The two were initially scheduled to have a personal meeting and then held an extended meeting with the participation of the teams, and also with the participation of Paraguayan Defense Minister Oscar Gonzalez.
During their meeting, the ministers signed a memorandum of understanding to promote security cooperation between the countries.
Earlier, Sa’ar met with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, who stated, “Paraguay continues to strengthen alliances that look to the future,” and that Sa’ar is “developing a work agenda in our country together with Chancellor Rubén Ramírez".
“This visit reaffirms the excellent moment of our bilateral relations and our commitment to continue expanding cooperation in strategic areas for the development of both peoples,” he added.
Paraguay's new AIPAC-style advocacy, stronger ties with Israel, and Taiwan
This comes weeks after Paraguay’s new ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Leite, 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.
“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.
The ambassador also said he is studying how pro-Israel advocacy operates in Washington, as he seeks to build a bipartisan “Paraguay caucus” on Capitol Hill.
Zvika Klein contributed to this report.