WHEN Fernando Lugo was sworn in as Paraguay’s president in August last year, the former bishop and liberation theologian, a political novice, represented a refreshing change in a country that had endured 60 years, largely of misrule, under the Colorado party. But Paraguayans have since been reminded that political savvy is not always a bad thing. In the past few weeks Mr Lugo has managed to offend some of his political allies, insult some of the wealthier families in the country and upset the armed forces. He has been threatened with impeachment twice. And one of the three women who claim that he fathered their children filed a (third) paternity suit against him.
“Those with bulky bank accounts, whose pictures appear in the newspapers’ social pages,” are holding Paraguay back, Mr Lugo declared at a rally in a poor neighbourhood of Asunción, the capital. He had said such things from the pulpit in the past. But this time he spoke only nine days after Fidel Zavala, a cattle rancher, had been kidnapped by the self-styled Army of the Paraguayan People (EPP), a small left-wing group with links to Colombia’s FARC. Mr Lugo is friendly with some former EPP members.
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Mr Lugo then sacked his armed forces’ chiefs, complaining of “pockets of coupmongers in the military”. His staff rushed out a statement the following day to deny that they had uncovered a coup plot. But that only seemed to stoke rumours and grumbling in the barracks.
Meanwhile in Congress, where he has few firm supporters, Mr Lugo finds his every attempt at reform sabotaged by the old guard. One Colorado senator threw a tantrum to prevent the president presenting his security plan. Congress has slashed spending on social programmes in next year’s budget—something which even some Colorados said was irresponsible.
The president’s troubles have cost him popularity. His government has managed modest reforms of education and health care, and has started paying a benefit to more than 200,000 poor families. Mr Lugo has also struck a deal with Brazil to increase Paraguay’s revenue from the giant Itaipu hydroelectric power plant that the two countries share. Compared with the sins of his predecessors, his peccadillos are minor. It would be a terrible setback for Paraguay if his attempts to democratise it were to end in impeachment.
“Those with bulky bank accounts, whose pictures appear in the newspapers’ social pages,” are holding Paraguay back, Mr Lugo declared at a rally in a poor neighbourhood of Asunción, the capital. He had said such things from the pulpit in the past. But this time he spoke only nine days after Fidel Zavala, a cattle rancher, had been kidnapped by the self-styled Army of the Paraguayan People (EPP), a small left-wing group with links to Colombia’s FARC. Mr Lugo is friendly with some former EPP members.
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Mr Lugo then sacked his armed forces’ chiefs, complaining of “pockets of coupmongers in the military”. His staff rushed out a statement the following day to deny that they had uncovered a coup plot. But that only seemed to stoke rumours and grumbling in the barracks.
Meanwhile in Congress, where he has few firm supporters, Mr Lugo finds his every attempt at reform sabotaged by the old guard. One Colorado senator threw a tantrum to prevent the president presenting his security plan. Congress has slashed spending on social programmes in next year’s budget—something which even some Colorados said was irresponsible.
The president’s troubles have cost him popularity. His government has managed modest reforms of education and health care, and has started paying a benefit to more than 200,000 poor families. Mr Lugo has also struck a deal with Brazil to increase Paraguay’s revenue from the giant Itaipu hydroelectric power plant that the two countries share. Compared with the sins of his predecessors, his peccadillos are minor. It would be a terrible setback for Paraguay if his attempts to democratise it were to end in impeachment.