An alleged coup plot and battles inside his ruling coalition have given Paraguay's new president a rough ride in his first weeks in power and show the challenges he faces in trying to push through leftist reforms. President Fernando Lugo, a political neophyte and former Roman Catholic bishop who quit the priesthood to seek the presidency, has seen his governing coalition severely tested since he took office on Aug. 15. “It has been a shaky beginning,” said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank. “And this is a sign of what he's likely to face down the road.” Lugo, who once led anti-government protests, ended the Colorado Party's 61-year grip on power with his election victory in April at the head of an unwieldy coalition of center and leftist parties. He has promised to push through land reforms and end Paraguay's notorious corruption, but says his rivals and even one of his allies are now conspiring against his government. He appeared on television last week to accuse former President Nicanor Duarte and Lino Oviedo, a key ally of the ruling coalition in Congress, of summoning a high-ranking military official for a private meeting to discuss politics. With the heads of the armed forces standing behind him, Lugo warned Paraguayans to be “alert against anti-democratic and retrograde sectors out to overthrow” the government. Oviedo, a retired general who last year was released from jail for once leading a failed coup, came in third in the April election. The support of Oviedo's party helped Lugo forge a majority in Congress and it is not clear how the accusations that he was conspiring against the president will now affect the ruling coalition. Both Duarte and Oviedo have denied plotting against the government. But to many Paraguayans, the accusations are a reminder of the difficulties Lugo will confront as he pushes ahead with an ambitious land reform plan that won him the support of peasant groups and the urban poor. Corruption The Colorado Party held onto power for decades – including a 35-year dictatorship under Gen. Alfredo Stroessner – thanks largely to a well-oiled political patronage machine that turned Paraguay into one of the world's most corrupt nations. “This is a country that is not accustomed to having anybody else run it but the Colorados,” said Shifter. “There are a lot of interests that are pretty entrenched and they're not going to make it easy for him.” Lugo's coalition is already displaying cracks as lawmakers supposedly loyal to him bickered over whether to allow Duarte to take a voting seat in the Senate. The former leader was eventually allowed a non-voting seat as is traditional for ex-presidents. Paraguay is one of South America's top soy and beef producers but analysts say almost 80 percent of land in is owned by one percent of the population, many of them with ties to the Colorado Party. Lugo remains highly popular but the move from one-party rule to a full democracy will be turbulent, Paraguayan political analyst Milda Rivarola told the La Nacion newspaper. “We're going to have to get used to the idea that the transition will be built on crises, “she said. “The challenge will be to find peaceful and legal solutions.” – Reuters __
