New Paraguayan president puts people first

Running at the head of the Patriotic Alliance for Change, an ad hoc coalition of disaffected centrists, unionists, social movements, radical leftists and indigenous groups, Lugo won 41 percent of the vote in an election with a remarkably high 66 percent turn-out.

Next in line was Colorado Party candidate Blanca Ovelar with 31 percent, followed by retired general Lino Oviedo, candidate of the National Union of Ethical Citizens, with 21 percent.

From 1954 to 1989, dictator Alfredo Stroessner had held sway over the Colorado Party.

The Catholic Church hierarchy expressed its disapproval of Lugos candidacy by refusing to accept his resignation as bishop. He had served as bishop in San Pedro, one of Paraguays poorest regions.

Casting himself as a consensus builder rather than a left militant, Lugo campaigned against corruption, concentrated power and sectarianism. Land reform is high on his agenda. He promises to press Brazil to renegotiate agreements on distribution of income and electric power emanating from massive hydroelectric projects shared by the two countries.

Lugo rejects the idea of a free trade agreement with the United States, and has called upon the regional trade confederation Mercosur, to which Paraguay belongs, to support the poor.

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