A leftist, sandal-wearing former priest known as “the Bishop of the Poor” became President of Paraguay yesterday bringing to an end the world’s longest period of uninterrupted one-party rule.

Yesterday’s swearing-in of Fernando Lugo, 57, made him the first former Roman Catholic cleric in modern times to lead a Latin American country.

The ceremony also marked the first time in Paraguay’s 197-year history that the ruling party has willingly ceded power after losing an election.

The Colorado Party had held power since 1947 — including 35 years of dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner — longer than any other party in the world.

Mr Lugo, who famously led anti-government marches and faced down riot troops, is promising to end the country’s deep-rooted corruption, as well as redistributing land to the poor. Spurning the glittering trappings of presidential office, he has vowed to stay faithful to his simple lifestyle, preferring to live in his own house rather than the presidential residence.

He stepped down as bishop before running for the presidency, successfully petitioning the Vatican to restore his lay status. Although the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes clergy taking political office, Pope Benedict granted an unprecedented waiver to allow him to serve as President without violating church rules. The Vatican’s decision was all the more remarkable given that Mr Lugo hails from the liberation theology wing of the Church, which was ostra-cised under Pope John Paul ll.

Mr Lugo’s religious faith will be severely tested by the challenges facing his small, landlocked country of 5.6 million people, with 40 per cent of the population living in poverty. The country’s bloated state sector is notoriously inefficient and corrupt, though the economy has grown 25 per cent over the past five years thanks to booming exports of soya beans.

Mr Lugo joins the growing leftist ranks of elected heads of state in Latin America, currently led by the former military officer Hugo Chávez in Vene-zuela, Evo Morales, the Bolivian indigenous leader, and Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

So far he has refused to be pigeonholed and has not committed himself to Mr Chávez’s controversial crusade to unite Latin America behind a militant left-wing ideology. His friends describe him as a pragmatic socialist who will chart his own path for Paraguay. “I am in the centre, like the hole in a poncho,” he said. He enjoys good relations with the continent’s other more moderate leftists, led by Luis Ina-cio Lula da Silva in Brazil and Michelle Bachelet in Chile.

Since winning the election he has sent mixed signals. His choice of a Chávez ally as Foreign Minister has raised eyebrows, prompting several MPs to resign from his political alliance. But other Cabinet selections, including his Economy Minister and central bank chief, are considered moderates.

Mr Lugo began his career as a teacher, before being ordained in 1977. He was forced into exile during the Stroessner dictatorship when the Government deemed his sermons “subversive.”

He returned to Paraguay after the dictatorship ended in 1989 and was named bishop in San Pedro, one of the poorest regions of the country where he learnt to speak the indigenous Guarani Indian language. He made a reputation for mediating land conflicts, leading protests to demand better public services that forced two corrupt governors to resign. Under pressure from the Church hierarchy he resigned as bishop in 2005 to pursue his political goals.

His campaign made headlines because of his humble style, walking barefoot in poor, indigenous communities. He plans a second unofficial inauguration today in San Pedro, where the Venezuelan, Bolivian and Ecuadorean Presidents are set to join him.

His country

2/3 is the proportion of the adult male population lost by Paraguay in the War of Triple Alliance against Argentina and Brazil, 1865-70

35 years of Alfredo Stroessner's military dictatorship lasted from 1954-89

90 per cent of Paraguay’s population are Catholic

95 per cent of the population are mestizo, mixed Spanish-native descent

32 per cent of the population are living below poverty line

Sources: CIA, Times archive

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