Paraguay's President Removed and Arrested, New Zealand Hangs On

Read the episode (Narration script)

Greetings once again and welcome to Political Science. It's Saturday, November 7th. Let's see what the hell's been going on.

Paraguay has a new president, and the old one spent Friday night under house arrest. Forty-four senators voted to remove Santiago Peña for poor performance of his duties, with no one voting against, one day after he tried to resign. Lawmakers refused to accept the resignation, which critics said would have preserved his lifetime Senate seat, and voted to remove him instead. Peña skipped the trial, sent his lawyers, and posted a farewell saying he had resigned "to avoid more damage to the country."

Within about an hour of the vote, prosecutors ordered his detention on suspicion of breach of trust, and sought the arrest of the former central bank chief. Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in that evening, and Congress picked a senator, Antonio Barrios, as his vice president twenty-five minutes later. Alliana says his first concern is the savers.

That is the part still unresolved. Ueno Bank, where Peña was once a shareholder, held accounts for roughly three million people, nearly two-thirds of Paraguay's adults. The lawmakers prosecuting the case told the Senate that state pension money deposited there grew about thirtyfold in under three years. Peña's lawyers say ninety-seven percent of savers will get everything back. Depositors are still waiting to find out.

New Zealand voted on Saturday, and election night ended without a clear winner. With about eighty percent of polling places counted, National and Labour were separated by less than half a point, each just under thirty percent. On those numbers, Christopher Luxon's three-party coalition would hold a narrow majority in an enlarged parliament of a hundred and thirty-one seats. Special votes from overseas and outside home districts usually lean left, and analysts expect them to cost the right a seat or two. The official count is due November 27th.

The newcomer is the Opportunity Party, a centrist outfit that has tried for a decade to clear the five percent threshold and finally did. If the coalition slips below a majority, Opportunity holds the balance. Luxon ruled out working with it during the campaign. That pledge will be tested if the count tightens.

In Washington, the first White House shake-up after the midterm rout promotes the aide most identified with the president's hardest-line policies. President Trump announced Friday that Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, starting Monday. Wiles resigned Thursday night, and three sources told CBS her departure was tied to the Republican losses. She moves to the president's political operation.

Miller has been the architect of the administration's immigration enforcement and deportation program. A chief of staff decides who sees the president and which fights get picked, and Miller now holds that job just as Democrats take control of the committees that issue subpoenas. Trump said he wanted to make a change and called Miller "a great manager." Chuck Schumer said the president "learned nothing." Representative Robert Garcia, the likely incoming Oversight chair, said Miller "should lawyer up."

In Houston, the election produced a policy change within three days. Mayor John Whitmire signed an order telling city police to stop calling immigration agents over administrative warrants unless someone has actually been arrested on a jailable offense. People stopped for nonviolent offenses can be cited and released. In April, Houston backed away from a similar rule after Governor Greg Abbott threatened about a hundred and ten million dollars in public safety grants, citing a 2017 state law that bars cities from limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Abbott lost on Tuesday. The law is still on the books, but the governor who used it as leverage is on his way out. Whitmire said he was acting to reduce fear, and added, "I also do this knowing that elections matter."

The United States has now recorded 5,182 measles cases this year, the most since 1991 and more than double last year, according to the CDC. Most are children and teenagers. The CDC counts four deaths nationwide. Pennsylvania, the hardest-hit state, counts six on its own. Two of those were unvaccinated people who died in August, and the CDC listed them, then removed them after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questioned whether measles caused their deaths. The agency says it is now working with state epidemiologists on a standard definition of a measles death. Meanwhile, kindergarten vaccination has slipped from just over ninety-five percent in the 2019 school year to about ninety-two.

And on Iran, the war continues in small doses. US forces struck an Iranian anti-aircraft site on Qeshm Island on Friday. President Trump called them "minor strikes" and said the target was knocked out "in about fifteen minutes, maybe five." He also said Iran wants a deal and claimed "a lot of progress," without specifics. Qatar's prime minister urged both sides not to wait for a perfect moment. The Strait of Hormuz remains restricted.

That should do it for today. And remember, if you keep your expectations low, you'll never be disappointed. Thanks for listening, see you next time.