- In full:
- Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez
- Born:
- May 30, 1951, San Pedro del Paraná, Paraguay (age 75)
- Title / Office:
- bishop (1994-2007)
Fernando Lugo
-
Who is Fernando Lugo?
Fernando Lugo, born May 30, 1951, is a former Roman Catholic bishop who served as president of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012, ending the Colorado Party’s 62-year hold on power. A nephew of a Colorado Party leader exiled during Gen. Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship, Lugo became known as the “bishop of the poor”. He led landless peasants in a campaign for agrarian reform in his diocese.
Lugo resigned as bishop in 2005 to enter politics, gaining popularity for his honesty and work for the poor. In 2008, he was elected president, promising land redistribution and social programs. However, his attempts at land redistribution were blocked, and he faced criticism after a clash between farmers and police resulted in 17 deaths. In 2012, Lugo was impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and removed from office by the Senate, replaced by Federico Franco. Lugo called it a "parliamentary coup," a sentiment echoed by several South American countries. In 2013, he was elected to the Senate, and in August 2022, he suffered a stroke while still serving as a senator.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Which country did Fernando Lugo serve as president?
Fernando Lugo served as president of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. His presidency ended the Colorado Party's 62-year hold on power. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop known as the "bishop of the poor," campaigned on promises of land redistribution and social programs. He was impeached in 2012 and replaced by Federico Franco. Lugo called his removal a "parliamentary coup". Several South American countries questioned the legality of his removal. In 2013, Lugo was elected to the Senate.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
When was Fernando Lugo president of Paraguay?
Fernando Lugo served as president of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. His presidency marked the end of the Colorado Party's 62-year control of the country.
He was inaugurated in August 2008, with promises to push for land redistribution, political and economic transparency, and new social programs to help the poor. However, Lugo's attempts at land redistribution faced rejection from large landowners and were blocked by his opponents in the legislature.
In June 2012, Lugo was impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and subsequently removed from office by the Senate. He was then replaced by Federico Franco. Lugo called his removal a "parliamentary coup," and a number of South American countries questioned the legality of his removal.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What was Fernando Lugo's background before becoming president?
Before becoming president of Paraguay (2008–12), Fernando Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop. He was the nephew of Epifanio Méndez Fleitas, a Colorado Party leader who was exiled in 1956 during Gen. Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship.
Lugo worked as a primary-school teacher before joining the Divine Word Missionaries in 1970. He earned a degree in religious studies in 1977 and was ordained a priest, after which he ministered in Ecuador. Upon returning to Paraguay, he became the provincial superior of the Divine Word community in 1992 and bishop of San Pedro in 1994.
As the "bishop of the poor," he led landless peasants in a campaign for agrarian reform. In 2005, he resigned his bishopric to enter politics, gaining popularity for his honesty and work for the poor.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What were some major changes or policies during Fernando Lugo's presidency?
Fernando Lugo, as president of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012, ended the Colorado Party's 62-year hold on power. He promised to push for land redistribution, political and economic transparency, and new social programs to help the poor.
Lugo and Bolivian President Evo Morales settled a border dispute over the Chaco region that caused the Chaco War in the 1930s. In July 2009, months of negotiation with Brazil over the Itaipú Dam resulted in an agreement benefiting Paraguay.
However, his attempts to introduce land redistribution were blocked by ranchers and large landowners, as well as by the Colorado Party. After a clash between peasant farmers and police resulted in 17 deaths, Lugo was impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and removed from office.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why did Fernando Lugo's presidency end, and how did it impact Paraguay?
Fernando Lugo's presidency ended due to his impeachment by the Chamber of Deputies on June 21, 2012, following a clash between peasant farmers and police that resulted in 17 deaths. The next day, the Senate convicted him of incompetence and removed him from office, replacing him with Federico Franco.
Lugo's removal led to political upheaval in Paraguay. Several South American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, questioned the legality of his removal and recalled their ambassadors. Both UNASUR and Mercosur suspended Paraguay. Lugo, who initially accepted his dismissal, later sought its reversal, calling it a "parliamentary coup". Despite the controversy, few Paraguayans defended Lugo as time passed. Lugo was elected to the Senate in 2013 and remained involved in politics.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Fernando Lugo (born May 30, 1951, San Pedro del Paraná, Paraguay) is a former Roman Catholic bishop who became president of Paraguay (2008–12). His inauguration ended the conservative Colorado Party’s 62-year hold on power.
Lugo was the nephew of Epifanio Méndez Fleitas, a Colorado Party leader who was forced into exile in 1956, during Gen. Alfredo Stroessner’s 35-year dictatorship (1954–89). After briefly working as a primary-school teacher, in 1970 Lugo began a novitiate with the Divine Word Missionaries. In 1977 he earned a degree in religious studies from the Catholic University in Asunción and was ordained a priest. He worked the following five years in Ecuador’s Andean region under the bishop of Riobamba, Leonidas Proaño, a leading South American liberation theologist. After a brief return to Paraguay, Lugo was sent to Rome in 1983 for further studies. He returned to Paraguay in 1987, and in 1992 he was appointed the provincial superior, or head, of the Divine Word community there. He was consecrated bishop of San Pedro in 1994.
Lugo rose to prominence in Paraguay as the “bishop of the poor,” leading landless peasants in his economically disadvantaged rural diocese of San Pedro Apóstol de Ycuamandiyú in a campaign for agrarian reform against wealthy landowners backed by the Colorado Party. After 11 years Lugo resigned his bishopric in January 2005 to step more directly into politics. In Paraguay, a country infamous for corruption and in which one-third of the population lives in poverty, his reputation for honesty and his work for the poor made the priest, who invariably campaigned in sandals and open-necked shirts, enormously popular. Unions, agrarian groups, and others opposing Colorado Party rule united behind him, as did the centre-left opposition coalition Patriotic Alliance for Change (Alianza Patriótica para el Cambio; APC), which he had helped form. After Lugo defied a December 2006 canonical admonition against becoming a presidential candidate, the Vatican suspended him a divinis in January 2007, barring him from practicing as a priest. Lugo had renounced his position as bishop in December 2006, but the Vatican did not accept his resignation until July 2008.
Lugo defeated Blanca Ovelar of the Colorado Party in the country’s 2008 elections and was inaugurated in August, promising to push for land redistribution, political and economic transparency, and new social programs to help the poor. Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez, a close ally, joined Lugo at the ceremony. Lugo has called for renegotiating Paraguay’s share of revenues from Brazil for power from the huge Itaipú hydroelectric dam and for reforming the country’s military.
In 2009 Lugo announced that, while still recognized as a bishop by the Vatican, he had fathered a son. His admission came on the heels of a paternity suit filed by the child’s mother. His tainted reputation was slightly restored that July, however, when months of negotiation with Brazil over the Itaipú Dam resulted in an agreement benefiting Paraguay. In 2010 Lugo’s relationship with Chávez and his support for Venezuela’s ascent into Mercosur prompted strong opposition from Vice Pres. Federico Franco, who previously had been an important ally in the coalition that Lugo led into power in 2008. Lugo’s attempts at land redistribution were rejected by large landowners and blocked by his opponents in the legislature. Many in Congress were quick to blame Lugo when a clash between peasant farmers and police who were evicting them from land in eastern Paraguay resulted in 17 deaths on June 15, 2012. On June 21 Lugo was impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and the next day convicted of incompetence by the Senate (39–4) and removed from office. He was replaced by Franco. After initially acquiescing to his removal, Lugo soon fought back, claiming that he had been ousted by a “parliamentary coup.” The governments of several South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela, were quick to question Lugo’s removal.
Lugo remained involved in politics, and in 2013 he was elected to the Senate. In August 2022, while still serving as a senator, Lugo suffered a stroke.