Esperanza Martínez (politician)

Esperanza Martínez
Official portrait, 2023
Senator of Paraguay
Assumed office
30 June 2013
Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare of Paraguay
In office
15 August 2008 – 22 June 2012
PresidentFernando Lugo
Preceded byOscar Martínez Doldán
Succeeded byAntonio Arbo
Personal details
BornEsperanza Martínez Lleida
(1959-04-26) April 26, 1959
PartyPublic Participation Party
Other political
affiliations
Guasú Front
SpouseCarlos Portillo MD
Children3
Parents
  • Benito Martínez
  • Mercedes Lleida
Occupation
  • Medical doctor
  • politician

Esperanza Martínez Lleida de Portillo (born 26 April 1959) is a Paraguayan medical doctor and politician, currently serving as senator since 2013.

She previously served as Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare from 2008 to 2012, under President Fernando Lugo.[1]

In May 2012 she was elected vice-president for the 65th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization.[2]

She is an advocate of liberalizing implementation of laws regarding abortion in Paraguay to help a pregnant 10-year-old who was raped by her stepfather, complaining that to those who opposed the treatment, the unnamed girl "became a uterus. She became a birth canal."[3]

On November 15, 2023, Senator Martinez presented Resolution No. 383, which was approved by the Senate (File S-2300589[4]), to request information and documents from Ruben Ramirez Lezcano (advisor to[5] Itaipú and Minister of Foreign Affairs) related to the investments of the Itaipú retirement and pension fund (Cajubi) abroad, known as “the robbery of the century”.

References

  1. ^ CIA World Leaders Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Pan American Health Organization
  3. ^ "Paraguay senator says pregnant 10-year-old denied abortion 'became a uterus'". Associated Press. The Guardian. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Expediente S-2300589". silpy.congreso.gov.py. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
  5. ^ "Santiago Peña nombra en el Consejo de Itaipú a tres ministros, pese a la Constitución - Economía - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-11-17.