In Paraguay, Fernando Lugo sworn in as president; Hugo Chavez basks in his glory

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Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo, whose election broke a six-decade legacy of dictatorship and one-party rule, was sworn in Friday as president of this poor, landlocked nation in the heart of South America, Patrick J. McDonnell reports from Asuncion.

‘Today a new Paraguay is born,’ Lugo told thousands of supporters and various heads of state assembled outside the congressional palace in the normally sleepy capital. ‘Today marks the end of an exclusive Paraguay, a secretive, notoriously corrupt Paraguay.’

Sharing the stage with Lugo on Saturday, when he travelled to San Pedro, was a euphoric Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, clearly viewing the newly installed Paraguayan chief of state as his newest ally in the Caracas versus Washington political battle that has split Latin America.

‘For the first time, I feel wanted in Paraguay,’ the animated Chavez declared, after repeating his habitual refrain that the United States, which he calls el imperio yanqui (the Yankee empire), was to blame for the region’s chronic underdevelopment.

Read here about Lugo’s signing in, and here about Chavez tagging along.

For more on Paraguay, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City