Paraguay’s President Cartes leaves post early to become senator

Paraguay’s President Horacio Cartes said he had presented his resignation to Congress on Monday so that he can legally take office as a Senator on July 1, Reuters reported. The president’s term ends in August. If Congress accepts his resignation, Alicia Pucheta, a former Supreme Court judge who was named vice president a few days ago, will run the South American nation for the coming months. Mario Abdo, who also belongs to Cartes’s conservative Colorado Party, was elected president in April and is due to take office on August 15. The party performed better than expected in the Senate election also held last month.