Brazil & Southern Cone - June 2006 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Fernando Lugo, a former bishop, shot to prominence in June by positioning himself as a possible candidate for the opposition to rally behind in the presidential elections in 2008.

Lugo, 52, was bishop of San Pedro, one of the poorest areas in the centre of the country, until he was "retired" by the Vatican earlier this year. He is now chairman of the NGO, Resistencia Ciudadana, which drew 30,000 people to a demonstration on 7 June to demand the resignation of the five judges who permitted President Nicanor Duarte to hold simultaneously, albeit only briefly, the positions of president of the Republic and president of the ruling Partido Colorado. Under the constitution the president cannot hold another job. Lugo first announced himself on the scene on 29 March when he rallied thousands of people to similar protests.

Pedro Fadul, the president of the second biggest opposition party Patria Querida, called on Lugo on 14 June to chair a broad social and political opposition front to contest the presidential elections (possibly against Duarte if he is permitted to stand for re-election). The other main opposition parties- Blas Llano's Partido Liberal Republicano Auténtico (PLRA) and Enrique González Quintana's Unión Nacional de Cuidadanos Éticos (UNACE) have also pledged their allegiance to the front. In addition to this Lugo commands the support of five trade unions and more than 100 civil associations.

Lugo, who says he will announce his intentions in December, would have his work cut out keeping such a disparate front together even if he were chosen as a consensus candidate. The political opposition has a long history of division and fragmentation and has never really believed that it can topple the Partido Colorado which has clung on to power since 1947.

Church opposition

Lugo's dalliance in politics is already being frowned upon by the Vatican which does not promote the active involvement of bishops in political life. Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, expressed his concern at Lugo's intent. "It is not the job of a bishop or a priest to get involved in politics... In an exceptional case maybe," he said. He added that Lugo should appeal to the Holy See for permission if he decides to run. The process of papal dispensation could take several years. The Paraguayan bishops' conference has stressed, on several occasions, that Lugo no longer speaks in the name of the Roman Catholic Church.