ASUNCION, paraguay — Paraguay’s newly sworn-in president set about forming a government Saturday as he promised to honor foreign commitments, respect private property and reach out to Latin American leaders to minimize diplomatic fallout.
In a brief appearance before international journalists, Federico Franco tried to broadcast a sense of normality a day after lawmakers voted to oust President Fernando Lugo from office.
“The country is calm,” Franco said. “I was elected (as vice president) in 2008 by popular vote. Activity is normal, and there is no protest.”
His first two appointments were Interior Minister Carmelo Caballero, who will be tasked with maintaining order in this poor, landlocked South American nation, and Foreign Minister Jose Felix Fernandez, who will hit the road to try to appease fellow members of the Mercosur and Unasur regional trade blocs.
“Our foreign minister will go to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to meet with authorities and explain to them that there was no break with democracy here,” Franco said. “The transition of power through political trial is established in the national constitution.”
The Paraguayan Senate voted 39-4 the previous day to dismiss Lugo a little more than a year before his five-year term was to end, and Franco took the oath of office soon after. Lugo’s ouster drew condemnation around Latin America from leaders who called it a de facto coup. Several presidents said they would seek Paraguay’s expulsion from regional groups.
The U.S. State Department urged “all Paraguayans to act peacefully, with calm and responsibility, in the spirit of Paraguay’s democratic principles.”
