Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo admitted yesterday he fathered a child when he was still a Roman Catholic bishop, as a paternity suit threatened to weaken him politically.
Mr Lugo, a 57-year-old left-winger, said in a televised address that he had an affair with a woman who is now 26, and conceded he was the father of her child. “I assume all responsibilities . . . and I recognise paternity,” he said.
Lawyers for the baby’s mother, Viviana Carrillo, filed a paternity suit against the president last week and a judge was proceeding with an inquiry. The child is almost two years old, media reports said. The suit caused a media storm that has damaged Mr Lugo’s image, but Ms Carrillo told reporters she had not signed any complaint and had not authorised lawyers to file it on her behalf.
Mr Lugo won the presidency last April at the head of a coalition, ending more than 60 years of one-party rule in the poor South American country. – (Reuters)