Óscar Nicanor Duarte Frutos (born 11 October 1956) is a Paraguayan lawyer, journalist and politician who served as the 47th President of Paraguay from 2003 to 2008. A member of the Colorado Party, he became the central figure of Paraguayan politics during his presidency.
Born into a lower class rural family, Duarte pursued a career in law and later journalism, becoming a radio sports commentator and columnist. In the 1990s he got into politics, serving in the cabinets of Presidents Juan Carlos Wasmosy and Luis González Macchi, both times as Minister of Education. Duarte became one of the top allies of the Colorado Party politician Luis María Argaña, inheriting his political clout after his assassination in March 1999. Duarte was elected president in 2003, by a plurality of 37%, taking advantage of a three-way split in the opposition to the incumbent Colorado Party. Inaugurated at 46, Duarte was one of Paraguay's youngest presidents, as well as its first non-Catholic, being a Protestant convert.
Duarte's administration was marked by a rejection of the path his country and party had taken in the past decade, turning away from neoliberalism to instead embrace the pink tide and 21st century socialism. Overall, the Paraguayan economy grew during his tenure, mostly as part of a recovery from the crisis of the 1990s. His support of and from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, as well as his proposal to amend the constitution to allow the reelection of the president, made large parts of the Paraguayan public see him as increasingly authoritarian, leading in part to the defeat of his protégé, Blanca Ovelar, in the 2008 election.
In said 2008 election Duarte was elected senator, but the Senate refused to swear him in, arguing that it would be unconstitutional, this happened again in 2018.
The financial investments that Itaipú's pension fund (Cajubi) made in Canada, known as "the robbery of the century", occurred between 2005 and 2008, during his presidential tenure and when his appointee, Victor Bernal Garay, was the director of Itaipú.
Nicanor promoted Blanca Ovelar's candidacy for the Colorado Party in the 2007 primary elections and the 2008 presidential election, positioning her as his successor.
According to major media outlets and other sources in Paraguay, Blanca Ovelar's campaigns were illicitly financed with money from Itaipu Binacional and its subsidiaries Cajubi and Tesai, with the involvement of Nicanor and his appointee, the Director General of Itaipu, Victor Bernal.
After leaving office Duarte served as Ambassador to Argentina from 2013 to 2016, under the presidency of Horacio Cartes. He was later appointed director of the Yacyretá Dam. Like all former presidents, Duarte currently holds the ceremonial and powerless title of Senator for life.
In January 2025, Judge Celia Salinas issued a final ruling awarding civil damages against the former directors of the Itaipu pension fund, Cajubi. Cajubi's lawyer, Rafael Fernández, told the media that Duarte was not investigated, supposedly "due to the complicit silence of the convicted former directors."
Óscar Nicanor Duarte Frutos was born on 11 October 1956 in Coronel Oviedo, Caaguazú, to a rural lower-class mestizo family. His father, Héctor Roque Duarte, was a police officer and songwriter who fought on the colorado side of the Paraguayan Civil War of 1947, under general Patricio Colmán. His mother, Disnarda Antonia Frutos, was a teacher. Nicanor started working at sawmills when he was eleven, while attending school. At fourteen he joined the Colorado Party, something that was de facto mandatory at the time, due to the dictatorship.
In the 1970s Duarte moved to Asunción, where he studied law and journalism. He became a sports commentator, working at a Caaguazú radio station. In the early 1980s he was hired by the editor-in-chief of Última Hora, where he started working as a columnist. At this point in his life Duarte was fairly poor, he lived in a small apartment and had few material possessions. In 1984 he obtained a law degree from the Catholic University of Asuncion and in 1989 a doctorate from the National University of Asuncion.
In the 1970s he started dating María Gloria Penayo Solaeche, who he married in 1984. They had six children: José, Héctor, María, Martín, Santiago and Facundo. Penayo is a member of a Mennonite church, Duarte decided to convert alongside her.
After the fall of Alfredo Stroessner in 1989, Duarte got more involved in politics and started climbing up the ladder of the Colorado Party throughout the 1990s. He became Vice Minister of Education during the Rodríguez administration and was later appointed Minister of Education by President Juan Carlos Wasmosy in 1993.
Duarte became an opponent of army general and colorado caudillo Lino Oviedo, who led a failed coup against Wasmosy in 1996. His opposition to Oviedo drifted Duarte increasingly closer to the general's main rival, Luis María Argaña, who led his own faction within the party, the Colorado Reconciliation Movement. In 1997 Duarte left the Ministry of Education to instead be Argaña's running mate in the Colorado Party primaries, held to elect the party's nominee for president in the 1998 election. In an effort to unite the party, Argaña became the running mate of the oviedista Raúl Cubas, who won the election.
In March 1999 Vice President Argaña was assassinated. This sparked rage and fear of another coup by Oviedo, which led to large protests that eventually made Cubas resign. The argañista Luis González Macchi was sworn in as president and quickly appointed Duarte back to the Ministry of Education. Duarte inherited Argaña's political faction and clout, effectively becoming his successor. In 2001 he resigned as Education Minister to become president of the Colorado Party.
Colorado Party primary elections
On 22 December 2002, Duarte won the Colorado Party's nomination for president in the 2003 general election. He defeated Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb, a wealthy businessman known for being president of the Club Olimpia football team. Domínguez Dibb was the leader of the neoestronista movement, having been a big supporter of the dictator and related to him through marriage.
On 27 April 2003, Duarte won the presidential election with a plurality, 37,1% of the vote. He beat Julio César "Yoyito" Franco of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (24%), Pedro Fadul of the recently created Beloved Fatherland Party (21,3%) and Guillermo Sánchez of the oviedista National Union of Ethical Citizens (13,5%). This three-way split in the opposition to the Colorado Party played in his favor.