Paraguay does not usually feature prominently on people’s political radar screens, not even in Latin America. Until a fortnight ago, Paraguay was perhaps more famous for being landlocked (it is surrounded by Bolivia to the northwest, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the south), poor (only Guyana and Bolivia are poorer in terms of GDP per capita), and corrupt, having the oldest one-party rule in the world.
But two Sundays ago, Paraguayans ended 61 years of authoritarian and generally venal rule by the conservative Colorado Party by electing Fernando Lugo, a leftist, former Roman Catholic bishop, as president.
The defeat of the Colorado Party is historic, given its lengthy dominance following the civil war of 1947, a period notorious for the brutal, right-wing dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled from 1954 to 1989. The transition to democracy, begun with the ouster of General Stroessner in 1989, is now hopefully about to enter its defining phase.