Paraguay's president-elect appoints former leftist militant as Cabinet chief

Paraguay's president-elect appoints former leftist militant as Cabinet chief
The Associated Press
Published: June 14, 2008

ASUNCION, Paraguay: President-elect Fernando Lugo, whose historic election ended six decades of one-party rule in Paraguay, on Friday named a former leftist militant to head his Cabinet when he takes office on Aug. 15.

Miguel Lopez Perito, 57, was one of the leaders of Paraguay's leftist Military Political Organization, which plotted to violently overthrow dictator Gen. Alfredo Stroessner in the mid-1970s.

Many of the militants were captured by Stroessner's secret police before their plan bore fruit, however, and disappeared during a region-wide clampdown on leftist militants during the 1970s.

Lopez Perito, who is a sociologist, said his militancy during that time was "part of the fight for democracy, social justice and to bring an end to the repression of the peasants, students, workers and the opposition."

"Now we live in different times," the Cabinet-chief-in-waiting said Friday.

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