What is Unfolding in Paraguay?

The president of Paraguay has been removed in an impeachment process that most neighbouring states are calling into question. Former bishop and noted liberation theologian Fernando Lugo has apparently has left Paraguay and it would appear that members of the opposition Colorado, backed by the military, are in control.

Paraguay was ruled for more than sixty years by the rightist Colorado party prior to Lugo's election victory in 2008 and for most of that period, from 1954-1989, by the truly odious Alfredo Stroessner, an ardent admirer of Adolph Hitler and a standout thug even by the standards of 1970s and 80s Latin America.

Paraguay is among the poorest countries in the world and the poorest in Latin America. Crippling disparities of wealth are rooted in the vast landholdings of a small elite in what is largely an agricultural export economy. Not surprisingly, Lugo's government faced stiff opposition from the start. Land reform efforts were sporadic and had limited success. Of course, they will  end altogether now that Stroessner's Colorado party has returned to power.

Canada was one of three nations who quickly announced recognition of the new government. And the Vatican apparently stopped short of condemning what very much looks like a bloodless coup. What better illustration could there be that fundamentalist belief and conservative religious reaction are not expressions of Christian faith but negations of it.