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By a vote of 76-1, the lower house of Paraguay’s Congress impeached President Fernando Lugo
this morning for his role in a deadly clash last week between the
police and squatters. The Senate is in session right now holding the
political trial and Lugo is expected to testify tomorrow in his defense.
However, since the upper house of Congress is controlled by the
opposition, it’s very likely that a required two-third majority will
vote to remove Lugo from office.
This impeachment process is in accordance with article 225 of the
Paraguayan constitution, which states that high ranking government
officials such as the president can be impeached for “poor performance
of his duties.” As we can see, the constitution is very vague in
stipulating the reasons why an official can be removed from office, so
it is up to two-third majorities in both houses of Congress to decide.
Removing Fernando Lugo from office could be a premature decision, or
an example of bad politics in a country where politicians excel in doing
wrong. I won’t discuss those details here. However, it is a perfectly
legal and constitutional move.
This is why it is unacceptable that Unasur, a union of twelve South
American governments, is threatening to treat Lugo’s possible removal
from office as a coup. The secretary general of Unasur has even said
that neighboring countries would have the power to invoke the Ushuaia II
treaty, which contemplates sanctions against a country where “the
democratic order has been breached.” Sanctions include shutting down the
borders (a particularly significant threat to a landlocked country such
as Paraguay), and suspending communications, trade and energy supplies.
It is important to note that Paraguay gets 95% of its energy from the
Itaipú and Yasyreta hydroelectric dams that it shares with Brazil and
Argentina, respectively. Thus, it is highly vulnerable to a shutdown.
Unasur should back off from interfering in the impeachment process
against Fernando Lugo. And the U.S. should unequivocally call for
respect for Paraguay’s constitutional order.
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