The recent impeachment of Paraguay’s ex-president was “irregular” but no coup, said Colombia’s foreign minister Sunday.
In an interview with newspaper El Tiempo, Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said the “impeachment of President Fernando Lugo was irregular,” adding that “we believe that you can’t speak of a coup.”
According to Holguin, “what is clear is that there was no respect for due process; they did not allow President Lugo a process with the minimal guarantees that come with the universal principles of defense.”
While Colombia disagrees from other South American countries like Argentina and Venezuela who consider the overthrowing of Paraguay’s former head of state illegitimate, Holguin said “there is unanimity in the region” that “without a doubt the constitutional order of Paraguay was altered.”
Colombia supports country union Unasur’s decision to suspend Paraguay. However, Bogota will not expel Paraguay’s ambassador.
The leftist Lugo took office in 2008, but has faced strong opposition from a primarily conservative House of Representatives and Senate, who dismissed Lugo only months before the elections.