LatinNews Daily - 14 September 2026

*Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña has designated Isaías Fretes as the country’s new health minister. Fretes, a retired rear admiral and doctor, had been serving as director of the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS), which manages social security and medical care, since April. He takes over as health minister from María Teresa Barán Wasilchuk (2023-2026) amid a crisis in the health sector that has seen mass resignations of healthcare staff and national strikes from doctors. In a social media post, Peña said he had “full confidence” in Fretes’ “dedication to service, and in his ability to lead us through this new phase of public health - with a presence on the ground, a close connection to the people, and a spirit of teamwork”. Peña added that health would “continue to be a top priority for my administration”, stating that, over the past three years, his government had allocated more than US$500m to healthcare infrastructure and had opened “two state-of-the-art hospitals”, while a further seven were under construction. By 2027, he said his administration will allocate US$760m for medications and medical supplies, “an increase of nearly 200% compared to 2023”, when he took office. In addition, he said the government had earmarked US$195m for the national cancer institute (Incan), “representing an increase of approximately 290% over the same period”, adding that, “this is the largest investment in the history of public health in Paraguay”. Derlis León will replace Fretes as president of the IPS, having previously served as the institute’s director of health. The new appointments follow weeks of strikes and resignations from public sector doctors and other healthcare personnel, who are demanding a pay rise and denouncing a shortage of medical supplies and poor working conditions. Paraguay’s doctors’ union (Sinamed) has called another national strike from 21-22 September.

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