MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bush pledges help to fight corruption, poverty in Paraguay

Pte. George W. Bush welcomes Pte. Fernando Lugo to the Oval Office

President George Bush joined Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo Monday in a pledge to bring assistance to the poverty-stricken South American nation while fighting corruption in the ranks of its government.

After a meeting with Lugo at the White House, Bush said his administration welcomed the opportunity to open discussions with Lugo that could lead to assistance from Washington. "We want to help with education and health care. We care deeply about people being able to work," Bush said. "We believe in the social justice agenda. I believe that it's important that the United States be in a position to help influence the lives of citizens that simply want a more hopeful day In his post-meeting statement, Lugo pledged to fight corruption and work to lift the nation out of poverty. "We are profoundly hurt in our souls by poverty, by the exodus of our young people, by the lack of education, by people who don't have roofs over their heads," said Lugo. "Our dream is that Paraguay be known not for its corruption, but for its transparency and for its dignity as a people and as a country." Noting that Lugo had a "hard job" in moving toward his goals, President Bush said he recognized the South American leader's commitment to work against government corruption plaguing his country's ability to lift itself out of poverty. "I'm impressed by the fact that you want to take a strong stand against corruption. There's nothing more discouraging than to have the government of a people steal their money," said Bush. "And so we stand with you. It's -- you got a hard job. I understand that. But you bring the right spirit to the job." Lugo underscored that he entered politics in order to change the history of Paraguay. "We have not come into politics in order to get into the smokeless industry that is to steal from the people of the country. We came in as Christians, because our Christian duty is to serve the poorest and the neediest of our people. And today, as President of Paraguay, we're taking on all of the challenges with the greatest serenity possible so that we can help our people". "I'll never forget that when I talked to one of our farm people, one of the people out in the country, a farmer who said, "What we need is bread. We don't care if it comes from the left hand or from the right hand; we just need somebody to give us food." And that's why we're here, because the Paraguayans have asked us to be here as President to try to recover Paraguay's dignity as a nation". Lugo is a former Catholic bishop who ended 61 years of one-party conservative rule in Paraguay when he became head of state in August with the support of a catch-all centre left coalition.