Paraguay: From priests to Presidents
February 16, 2007
Emergence of Fernando Lugo has confused all the plans of N. Duarte and his party. The recent polls testify that Lugo rapidly gains points from his future electorate. He is especially popular with the youth of Paraguay.
Lugo positions himself as a person, who is very sensible to all injustice, especially social. He was born in 1951 in the town of San Pedro de Parana in the family of peasants. He got his education from Jesuit monks and this fact determined his future life of a priest. He achieved success and recognition in this field.
On December 25, 2005 he applied to Vatican for his resignation as a clergyman. He decided to devote himself to politics and contend for the post of the president of the country in 2008. In Paraguay Lugo is famous as the man, who has always stood for peasants, especially landless ones. These members, being the most miserable and powerless, have always found support with him. In Praguay, according to the official data, there are 350 thousand landless peasants!
Rivals of Lugo hope that absence of own party-supporter with the ex-priest gives him no chances for success. However, commentators point out that there appeared a tendency of unification of small opposition parties and social groups around the new politician. In some publications Lugo is called a leader of Civil resistance movement (Resistencia Ciudadana) that units about hundred of different political and social organisations. The society is tired of previous parties, does not trust them and does not link with them their aspirations for improvement of the situation in the country that remains one of the poorest ones at the Latin American continent.
In this connection Lugo in the interview to a leading Paraguayan newspaper «ABC» said that he really did not identify himself with any political movement. Moreover, he thinks that at present there are no «chemically pure» ideologies that used to be in the 60-70s. «Today many call themselves left, but they are not. The experience reveals a completely different thing». He pointed that in Paraguay the left movement did not get that development as in neighbouring countries: «Stroessner himself was personally involved in beheading of the left movement». However, according to Lugo today affiliation to left or right wing is not that important.
As one should have expected, the most widespread accusation that his opponents poured down on Lugo, is his «connection with the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez». The rumors were spread that Chavez «financed the campaign» of Lugo and «advertised him». Of course this is from the sphere of fantasy. In his interview Lugo stated that he personally did not know Chavez but considered him to be a regional leader. And reelection of Chavez to the new presidential term proves that he enjoys great support in his country. He highly appreciated the strive of Chavez to look for a new way of development that was called «the socialism of the XXI century».
Chavez also in one of his speeches mentioned the subject of «Paraguayan elections» and, without mentioning the name of Lugo, complained that in Venezuela unfortunately, there were almost no such priests.
Fernando Lugo, having highly praised the services of Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, has pointed out here that he was not going to blindly copy their experience, that Paraguay had completely different obligations, which should be taken into consideration. «The experience of Bolivia, Argentine, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay or Venezuela can give light to our road,... but we should look for own solution of our problems».