Se cayó Lugo en Paraguay

Ex President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay (Wikipedia Commons)

Latin America's latest ouster is of Don Fernando Lugo Méndez, ex leader of Paraguay, recently quitted of his title Excelentisimo Señor Presidente de la República. South American media called it un golpe institucional; Lugo described it as an "express coup d'etat." The outgoing socially liberal president and former Catholic bishop is among a wave of left-wing leaders who've come to power in Latin America in recent years through democratic means. 

A speaker of the Guarani indigenous language who had spent his years as a priest in one of Paraguay's poorest areas, scandals over children he fathered while a priest hindered his credibility in the majority Catholic country. Lugo also made an enemy of his vice president, Federico Franco, who under the Paraguayan constitution immediately assumed the presidency.

Founded by a junta in 1811, and in a region where presidential ousters are as commonplace as they are creative, the institutional ouster by Paraguay's Senate didn't appear to take many people interviewed in Paraguayan TV -- including Don Lugo himself -- by very much surprise. 

"I denounce before the Paraguayan people that their will expressed at the polls the 20 of April of 2008 is the object of a merciless attack by sector who were always opposed to change," Lugo said, blaming "egoists who aren't aware of their privilege."

Latin America is no stranger to upheaval. Rafael Correa, the left-leaning president of Ecuador, alleged a coup had been staged to oust him in 2010, when police revolted and the president ended up tear-gassed. The oil-rich Andean nation cycled through eight presidents in a decade before Correa came to power in 2006.

In Central America, the cowboy-hat wearing Manuel Zelaya was taken by force to Costa Rica in his pajamas and a coup was declared, a state of emergency introduced in Honduras. The presidency of Hugo Chávez survived a coup attempt in 2002. In the aftermath of Argentina's 2001 default, a string of presidents were ousted with pots and pans.