Leftist ex-bishop Fernando Lugo was inaugurated Friday as Paraguay's president, ending six decades of one-party rule in a key step in the poor South American nation's democratic transformation. Tens of thousands of Paraguayans cheered as the tieless, sandal-clad Lugo raised his hand in the air and was sworn in, addressing the crowd in both Spanish and the Guarani indigenous language from a huge stage in front of Congress.
Lugo pledged to do away with the misery and corruption that has defined the desperately poor nation under the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.
"Today Paraguay breaks with its reputation for corruption, breaks with the few feudal lords of the past," said the 57-year-old Lugo, who shaved off most of his trademark beard but stuck with a goatee for the ceremony attended by eight Latin American leaders and Taiwan's president.
He faces obstacles in his bid for land reform and must avoid political chaos and civil unrest as elements on the left and right challenge his authority.
Landless peasants who have been seizing private property are threatening a much larger wave of invasions as early as this weekend. Members of his team also suspect the outgoing government tried undermine his presidency before it began by allowing critical supplies of fuel and medicine to disappear.
The conservative Colorado Party still dominates most government institutions in the small landlocked country, where corruption is entrenched and just 1 percent of the population controls 77 percent of the land.
Transforming Paraguayan society "won't be easy, but it's not impossible," Lugo said.
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