Paraguayans elect retired Bishop Lugo as president

Published: 2008-04-21

ASUNCION, Paraguay (CNS) -- Retired Bishop Fernando Lugo was elected president of Paraguay April 20, ending the six-decade rule of the Colorado Party. Bishop Lugo took an early lead in the pre-election polls, despite official disapproval from the Vatican and, initially, from the Paraguayan bishops' conference. As support for Bishop Lugo remained high in the largely Catholic country, the conference refrained from further comment. Bishop Lugo won slightly more than 40 percent of the vote, edging out Colorado Party candidate Blanca Ovelar, who was jockeying to become the country's first female president, and retired Gen. Lino Oviedo, former head of the armed forces, who was convicted, then acquitted of a 1996 coup attempt. In Paraguay, unlike other Latin American countries, there is only one round of balloting, and the candidate with the simple majority is the winner. The bishop will take office Aug. 15 for a five-year term.

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