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	Second Paternity Claim on Paraguayan Leader and Former Bishop Lugo Trend News (Azerbaijan) April 21, 2009 http://news-en.trend.az/world/wnews/1458627.html Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo said Monday that he would cooperate with the courts to clear up a new paternity claim against him dating back to his time as a Roman Catholic bishop. Lugo, 57, admitted last week that he fathered an illegitimate who is now 2 years old, in the wake of a legal complaint filed by the boy's mother. The most recent claim refers to a boy who is now 6. Before becoming president in August, Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop and therefore under a vow of celibacy. "I want to make it clear that we are willing to act always with truth as an argument, and to put ourselves at the disposal of justice officials," Lugo said in a message to the Paraguayan people. In the same three-minute message, Lugo announced a Cabinet reshuffle - and asked for privacy over the paternity claims. The centre-left Lugo was elected on April 20, 2008, to put an end to the six-decade rule of the conservative Partido Colorado. A woman from the San Pedro region - one of the poorest in Paraguay - said that her son was fathered by Lugo. She said she was sexually involved with the former bishop since 2001, when she was 17. The woman said Lugo supported her and her son financially until the boy was 2, and then reduced his contributions. Now "he does not even take" her calls. "All I ask is that he also recognizes him as his son, like he did his other son," the woman stressed. She said she was offered money to go public on her case during the campaign prior to Lugo's election, but she refused. "I do not want my son's case to be manipulated," she stressed. When the 2-year-old's mother filed suit against the president, government officials denied the allegations and said they were part of a campaign to damage Lugo's reputation. Lugo later admitted paternity. The opposition, in turn, has accused the former bishop of lying and of having violated Roman Catholic precepts. Beyond politics and the courts, paternity issues like those made against Lugo are not uncommon in Paraguay. Seven out of 10 babies born in the country are not recognized by their fathers, according to Registry Office director Oscar Victor Benitez. "Of every 10 people who come up to register their children, seven are women," he noted, reported dpa.
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