MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Second baby demand for Paraguay president Lugo; he accepts DNA test

Beigna the mother of an alleged son of Pte. Lugo

A second woman stepped forward Monday to say that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was the father of her seven year old child. The former Catholic bishop shocked the country last week when he acknowledged a two year old boy as his son.

Benigna Leguizamon, 27, said Lugo fathered her son in 2002 in the city of San Pedro where he was serving as bishop. She served notice that Lugo has 24 hours to acknowledge paternity or she will take legal action.

President Lugo’s solicitor said he had contacted Ms Leguizamon and offered to have a DNA test, which would be much faster than the judicial process.

“We have offered the lady the DNA test without need of going to court, this would be immediate. The tests take a long time when blood is extracted in the country and sent overseas; we’d be talking of at least thirty days”, said solicitor Marcos Farina.

Previously Ms Leguizamon was quoted saying she was “waiting in good will to wait 24 hours, but if they don’t do something, oh my God”.

President Lugo, 57, last week admitted to be the father of a 2 year-old child conceived in the months before he stepped down as bishop. The mother is currently 26.

Lugo said last week on a national broadcast he was making the admission “with the most absolute honesty, transparency and feeling of obligation”. Without acknowledging paternity, he expressed similar sentiments Monday about the latest allegation. “We're going to act always in pursuit of the truth ... in this private matter,” he said in a nationally televised announcement.

In his last week’s confession the former Catholic bishop said “it's true that there was a relationship with Viviana Carrillo”, naming the mother. “I assume all the responsibilities that could derive from such an act, recognizing the paternity of the child.”

Ms Leguizamon said on Monday that last week's announcement had encouraged her to come forth. She added the accusation was made to help her 7-year-old son, named Fernando, who is starting school and anticipated “she would request a DNA test”.

“When I saw the case with Viviana, I was strengthened to make my accusation,” Leguizamon said.

Opposition members of Congress said it appeared that Lugo practically had been forced to acknowledge what happened, which contradicts all his preaching of openness and transparency during the electoral campaign.

The breaking news of the new scandal occurs on the same day President Lugo and his catch-all coalition were supposed to celebrate the first anniversary of his historic electoral victory which marked the end of sixty years of uninterrupted dominance of Paraguayan politics by the authoritarian Colorado party.

Landlocked Paraguay has a long established reputation of corruption, poverty, patronizing, nepotism, smugglers paradise and the winning coalition was seen as a promise of honesty, transparency and democratic governance.