Fernando Lugo
Paraguayan president impeached in 2012 after a 24-hour Senate trial.
Antônio Cruz · CC BY 3.0 br
Fernando Lugo, elected President of Paraguay in 2008, was impeached and removed from office by the Congress of Paraguay in June 2012. On 21 June the Chamber of Deputies voted 76 to 1 to impeach Lugo, and the Senate removed him from office the following day, by 39 votes to 4, resulting in Vice President Federico Franco, who had broken with Lugo, becoming President. Lugo contends he was denied due process because he did not have enough time to prepare a defense. A number of Latin American governments declared the proceeding was effectively a coup d'état. Lugo himself formally accepted the impeachment, but called it a "parliamentary coup".
- nationality
- Paraguayan
- known_for
- President of Paraguay (2008–2012); ended 61 years of Colorado Party rule; laiciz
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Fernando Lugo's election to the presidency in 2008 broke a 61-year period in office for the Colorado Party. Lugo was aided by the presence of Federico Franco of the traditional opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) on the ticket as its vice presidential candidate. Lugo's electoral coalition, the Patriotic Alliance for Change (APC), was able to elect him as President (gaining 42.3% of the vote, against the second-placed Colorado candidate's 31.8%). However the Liberals and Colorados retained a majority of both houses of Congress. The Liberal Party, initially a member of the Alliance, withdrew in 2009, leaving the Alliance with just a handful of Congressional seats. In mid-May 2012 around 150 landless farmers occupied the Campos Morombi belonging to ex-Colorado Senator Blas Riquelme. On 15 June 2012 a police operation to evict landless farmers led to the death of 6 police officers and 11 farmers. The eviction involved over 300 police evicting over 150 farmers; according to the BBC, "the eviction escalated into violence and the farmers opened fire on the police." The GEO chief and deputy had approached the farmers for dialogue without arms drawn, not expecting violence, and were both shot in the head. On 16 June Lugo accepted the resignation of his interior minister Carlos Filizzola and of National Police chief General Paulino Rojas. On 19 June "Emilio Camacho, auditor of the Paraguayan Land Institute (INDERT), confirmed that Blas Riquelme did not have the title to the 2,000 hectares." On 20 June Lugo announced a special commission to investigate the incident.
Reader's Guide
On 21 June, the Chamber of Deputies launched proceedings to impeach Lugo under Article 225 of the Constitution of Paraguay. The Chamber cited the 15 June incident as well as insecurity, nepotism and a controversial land purchase to vote 76 to 1 to impeach Lugo on 21 June 2012. The Senate took up the case the next day. The impeachment was attended by a delegation of Foreign Affairs ministers from the other nations of the Union of South American Nations. The vote ended with 39 votes for Lugo's removal and four for his continuity, which removed Lugo from office and made Vice President Federico Franco (who had broken with Lugo earlier) the new president of Paraguay. Lugo announced that he would denounce the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, stating that the time to prepare a legal defence, just two hours, may be unconstitutional. The impeachment was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Paraguay and by the country's electoral court on 25 June. The next day, Lugo stated that while he still believed his impeachment amounted to a coup, nothing short of a "miraculous" reversal of course by Congress would allow him to regain office. Short of that, he said, "all my legal possibilities ended yesterday ... Legally there is no other way to reverse this situation." The electoral court declared that Lugo had been duly removed from office under Article 225, and that Federico Franco had correctly succeeded as President under Article 234. The presidents of Paraguay's neighbouring countries rejected Lugo's removal from office, and compared it to a coup d'état. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff proposed suspending Paraguay's membership in Mercosur and the Union of South American Nations. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic announced that they would not recognize Franco as president. Condemnation also came from more rightist governments in the region, such as Mexico, Colombia and Chile. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a statement on 23 June declaring "unacceptable the speed with which the impeachment of the constitutional and democratically elected President was conducted."
Did You Know?
- Lugo was elected president in 2008 with 42.3% of the vote, breaking 61 years of Colorado Party rule.
- His impeachment trial in the Senate lasted only 24 hours, with Lugo given just two hours to prepare a legal defense.
- The impeachment vote in the Chamber of Deputies was 76 to 1, and in the Senate 39 to 4.
- On 19 June 2012, an auditor confirmed that landowner Blas Riquelme did not have the title to the 2,000 hectares at the center of the deadly eviction.
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared the speed of Lugo's impeachment 'unacceptable' and said it 'affects the rule of law.'
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Fernando Lugo?
Fernando Lugo was a Paraguayan former Catholic priest who became President of Paraguay in 2008. His election was a landmark moment because it ended 61 consecutive years of Colorado Party dominance in Paraguayan politics.
How was Fernando Lugo removed from office?
On 21 June 2012, Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies voted 76 to 1 to impeach him, and the Senate confirmed his removal the next day by a 39-to-4 margin. The entire Senate proceeding lasted roughly 24 hours, a timeframe Lugo argued was insufficient for him to prepare a proper defense.
Was Fernando Lugo's impeachment considered a coup?
Multiple Latin American governments publicly declared the 2012 proceedings to be effectively a coup d'état rather than a legitimate constitutional process. Despite those international objections, Lugo formally accepted the outcome of the impeachment vote.
Who replaced Fernando Lugo as president?
Vice President Federico Franco, who had already broken politically with Lugo before the Senate vote, assumed the presidency immediately after the removal was confirmed.
Why is Fernando Lugo important in Paraguayan politics?
Lugo's 2008 victory shattered more than six decades of single-party rule, making him one of the most consequential political figures in modern Paraguayan history. His rapid ouster in 2012 also became a widely cited example of contested executive removal in the region.
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