Paraguayans cheer as ex-bishop takes office

[Judi Lynn]

Paraguayans cheer as ex-bishop takes office
Anti-corruption president vows to end poverty
By ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press
Aug. 15, 2008, 11:20PM

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY — Leftist former bishop Fernando Lugo shoved aside Paraguay's infamous 61-year history of one-party rule as he took office Friday with promises to end to corruption and hunger in the poor South American nation.

Almost shouting to swear that he would uphold the constitution, the typically mild-mannered Lugo was met with thundering cheers from more than 50,000 Paraguayans crowded around a stage outside Congress.

Lugo spoke in Spanish and the indigenous Guarani language, pledging to end the extreme poverty, institutional political corruption and trade in black market goods that defined Paraguay under the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner and has ruled ever since.

"Today Paraguay breaks with its reputation for corruption, breaks with the few feudal lords of the past," said Lugo, dressed in sandals and his trademark white, mandarin-collared shirt to set himself apart from the nation's traditional politicians.

After the inauguration, he bear-hugged to the continent's three most prominent leftists, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

More:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5946949.html



2 months ago: Paraguay's elected President Fernando Lugo (C) chats with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa (L) as sister Graciela tries on him the ceremonial sash the Carmelite nuns have made for his inauguration, at the Carmelite convent in the Andean locality of Guaranda, during an official visit to Ecuador, on June 16, 2008. Lugo, who will take on on August 15, worked as a priest in the area some 30 years ago.