Election of Fernando Lugo

Date: April 20, 2008 • Location: Rome, Italy

Fernando Lugo became the first candidate not from the Colorado Party candidate to be elected President of Paraguay in 61 years.

Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez is a Paraguayan politician and laicized Catholic bishop who was President of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. Previously, he was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop, serving as Bishop of the Diocese of San Pedro from 1994 to 2005. He was elected as president in 2008, an election that ended 61 years of rule by the Colorado Party.