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LatinNews Daily - 9 September 2008

Lugo targets Paraguay's supreme court

Development: President Fernando Lugo announced on 8 September that he would seek help from the Organization of American States to reform the supreme court.

Significance: Following his victory last week over his political rivals in congress, Lugo is keen to diminish their influence in the judiciary. The president claims that he has no intention of installing his own supporters in the supreme court but instead wants the court to be free from any political influence. This will be a massive undertaking: the supreme court has been shaped by the Partido Colorado, which was in power consecutively for 61 years until Lugo took office on 15 August.

Lugo is taking advantage of the furore that began last week when he accused his two main political rivals - Nicanor Duarte (his predecessor) and Lino Oviedo (a retired general with a reputation for political intrigue) - of plotting to overthrow him. Duarte and Oviedo denied the charge but soon afterwards the pair suffered a major defeat when Oviedo withdrew his backing for Duarte's attempt to become a fully active senator.

Also implicated in the coup plot were the attorney general, Rubén Candia, the vice-president of the supreme electoral court, Juan Manuel Morales, as well as unnamed members of the supreme court. Lugo's supporters want Candia and Morales and the supreme court to be tried for conspiracy, but Lugo is more interested in using their alleged involvement as a motive for purging the judiciary of its political influence.

Interestingly, the government is now talking down the possibility of a coup. On 8 September the defence minister, retired general Luis Bareiro Spaini, said that the chances of a coup had reduced significantly since Lugo took office. Spaini also said that Lugo's arrival was “an historic opportunity to purge" the military, which he said was “historically loyal to the Colorados".

Bareiro Spaini's bullishness regarding relations between the government and the military is supported by the armed forces' reported refusal to support Oveido and Duarte's plot. However, it is at odds with reports in the media about a major falling-out between Bareiro Spaini and the head of the armed forces, General Bernardino Soto Estigarribia. Soto Estigarribia went before Lugo in late August to complain that Bareiro Spaini had exceeded his authority by trying to control all senior military appointments.

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