Paraguay: the Bishop who would be President
The former Catholic Bishop, Fernando Lugo is still the front-runner in Paraguay's elections, due to take place this Saturday. A centre-left coalition is backing Lugo's candidacy while Blanco Ovelar represents the Colorado Party, which has ruled Paraguay for more than 60 years. Ovelar served as education minister under President Nicanor Duarte Frutos, and she is the first woman to run for president in the poor country of 5.6 million people, which is widely known for corruption and contraband. Accusations of fraud plagued the Colorado Party's primary election and Ovelar struggled to rally party members around her, although some analysts believe she managed to do so in the campaign's final stretch. Former general Lino Oviedo, 64, is the third candidate in the election, representing the UNACE party. Oviedo has a chequered and colourful political past. He was jailed for more than five years for plotting a failed coup in the mid-1990s. He launched his candidacy after the Supreme Court overturned his prison sentence last year. For an in-depth analysis of the elections in Paraguay see: The Bishop who would be President published by Thinking Faith at: www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20080204_1.htm