The United States said Monday it looks forward to working with Paraguay's newly elected leftist President Fernando Lugo, saying the election he won Sunday helps democracy in Latin America. However, the State Department did not comment on Lugo's likely policies amid perceptions by Paraguayan business leaders that they could be similar to those of leftist South American Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia. “Certainly if … Mr. Lugo has been declared the winner in that election, we look forward to working with him and his new government,” said State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey. He said Sunday's elections “themselves are a step forward” in the relatively new democracy, which emerged from a 35-year military dictatorship in 1989 and elected its first civilian president in 1993. Casey said it was too early to assess Lugo's policies. “Let's let the new government be formed and develop its policies and move forward, but the point that is most important here is that the people of Paraguay had the opportunity to choose their leaders, and those leaders will develop the policies they think are in the best interest of their country,” he said. According to Casey, the United States will work with any democratically-elected government that would govern democratically. “Sure, we will have an opportunity to work with this new government, evaluate its policies-at least in terms of their impact on the United States-after they have actually had the opportunity to formulate and implement them,” he said.
