Paraguay: Lugo challenges

Tuesday, April 29

Fernando Lugo's victory puts an end to the 61-year Colorado Party rule in Paraguay. There is a new mood of hope and optimism in a country where emigration was rising and politicians are widely despised.

Lugo, who will take office on August 15, has committed to a platform of progressive social and economic change to address gross income inequality, the worst in Latin America after Brazil and Guatemala. This involves targeted poverty reduction programmes, support for small farmers through land reform and combating endemic corruption. However, his programme remains fuzzy, with little on the specifics of reform. He has said that a rural cadastre will be carried out urgently to determine ownership prior to land reform, and Paraguay's decrepit public health system will be declared an 'emergency'.

Political challenges. The political challenges facing Lugo are considerable:

• Although final results are not yet out, it is clear that he will face a very conservative Congress, with the Colorados narrowly remaining the largest party. They are followed by the Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (PLRA), Lugo's ally in the Alianza Patriotica para el Cambio (APC), which made very significant gains, and Oviedo's UNACE.
• Provisional figures suggest that the number of Colorado deputies in the 80-member Lower House fell from 37 in 2003 to 31, with the number of PLRA deputies possibly reaching 28.
• The number of PLRA senators may exceed that of the Colorados.
• However, the left-wing movement that backed Lugo will have minimal representation in Congress, basically because Lugo's Movimiento Popular Tekojoja (MPT) and the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) could not agree on fielding joint candidates. There will only be two left-wingers in the 45-member Senate.