Paternity claims harm Paraguay leader

By: Micah Bacheller

Fernando Lugo, president of Paraguay, has only been in office a little over a year, but has many personal problems to deal with. At one point a charismatic catholic bishop, Lugo was elected on the platform of "proclaiming the virtue of honesty and ending corruption" in his country. Three different women have made allegations that Lugo is the father of their child. One woman said she was 16, under the age of consent when she had a relationship with Lugo. Another said that Lugo abused his position as a bishop to exploit the relationship. Yet the third woman accuses him of being the father of her child, she says that he is the ideal man, and was sad to see the relationship not flourish.

This is a problem because it affects his reputation and public image. While he should be working on saving Paraguay (one of the poorest countries in South America), allegations are coming in and doing some damage. Although it seems bad, many Paraguayans say this is not a big scandal, and they are used to their presidents having many women. Furthermore, Lugo has had a great attitude towards the allegations, asking for forgiveness and trying to get the country to look ahead.