Interesting news in Paraguay

Again, I didn't find this on CNN. I found on BBC News.
I heard of this, and never knew if the Pope had given him permission to resign as bishop. Apparently he did! I've never heard of that, but this guy must be worth it.
Interesting, yes?

updated 10:54 a.m. EDT, Fri August 15, 2008

Leftist ex-bishop inaugurated as Paraguay's president


ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Leftist ex-bishop Fernando Lugo became Paraguay's president on Friday, ending six decades of one-party rule in a key step in the South American nation's democratic transformation.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.

Tens of thousands of Paraguayans cheered Friday morning as a tieless, sandal-clad Lugo raised his hand and was sworn in front of Paraguay's Congress.

In his inaugural address, Lugo pledged to do away with the misery and corruption that has defined the desperately poor nation under the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.

"Today Paraguay breaks with its reputation for corruption, breaks with the few feudal lords of the past," said Lugo, who shaved off most of his trademark beard but stuck with a goatee for the ceremony attended by eight Latin American leaders and Taiwan's president.

Lugo acknowledged, however, that his path is "paved with the deceptions of the recent dictatorial past."

The Colorados still control most institutions of government and will likely frustrate efforts at land reform in the small landlocked country, where corruption is entrenched and 1 percent of the population controls 77 percent of the land.

Elements of both the left and right have challenged Lugo's authority, raising the specter of political chaos and civil unrest.
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* Landless protesters invade Paraguay farms

Landless peasants who have been seizing private property are threatening a much larger wave of invasions as early as this weekend. Members of his team also suspect the outgoing government tried undermine his presidency before it began by allowing critical supplies of fuel and medicine to disappear.

Transforming Paraguayan society "won't be easy, but it's not impossible," Lugo said.

Lugo, 57, spent 11 years as a bishop ministering to poor peasants in Paraguay's farmbelt before helping form the Patriotic Alliance for Change, his party, several years ago. The presidency is his first elected post.

Despite receiving belated and unprecedented permission from Pope Benedict XVI to resign as bishop, the new president promised Friday that "this layman will remain faithful to his church."


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