Paraguay News & Current Events

Senate Votes to Remove President Lugo

 

On June 22, 2012, Paraguay's Senate voted to oust President Fernando Lugo. The vote happened after the Senate convened, put Lugo on trial and went over a list of accusations. The Senate refused Lugo's request for time to come back with a defense. With the presidential elections only nine months away, Lugo accepted the Senate's decision. Vice President Federico Franco replaced Lugo.

Argentina and Brazil immediately announced they would remove their ambassadors from Paraguay. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela both called Lugo's dismal a coup d'état.

 

2013 Elections Return Power to Colorado Party

 

General elections were held on April 21, 2013. The Colorado Party took the majority in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, putting them back in control. The Colorado Party had been in power for sixty years until they lost the majority in 2008.

Colorado Party candidate Horacio Cartes defeated the Paraguay Alegre alliance's Efraín Alegre for president. Cartes received 45.80 percent of the vote and was scheduled to take office on August 15, 2013. During his campaign, Cartes, who owns around two dozen businesses in Paraguay, promised to create jobs, modernize public enterprises, and raise private capital to upgrade the country's infrastructure. On August 12, 2013, Cartes announced his cabinet: Eladio Loizaga (foreign minister), Bernardino Soto (defense minister), Francisco de Vargas (interior minister), and Germán Rojas (finance minister).

See also Encyclopedia: Paraguay .

U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Paraguay

General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses (In Spanish only) www.dgeec.gov.py/ .