AFP/Asuncion

Federico Franco was on a mission yesterday to repair ties with Paraguay’s neighbours, countries that refused to recognise him as president after lawmakers impeached his predecessor over a bloody land dispute.
“We reaffirm before the international community that we complied with constitutional law. We very much respect the presidents of our sister nations and will try to talk to them,” Foreign Minister Felix Fernandez told 970 radio.
The first major international event the new government is expected to attend is a summit of South America’s Mercosur trading bloc in Argentina on Thursday and Friday.
Paraguayan lawmakers completed snap impeachment proceedings on Friday against former president Fernando Lugo after a trial in which five lawyers acting on his behalf had just two hours to present their case in the Senate, where only four of 45 senators remained allied to Lugo.
A torrent of furious responses poured in from across the region, not just from traditional leftist allies like Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela, but also from centrist and right-wing governments in Argentina and Chile.
Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela said they would not recognise the new government.
During his first press conference on Friday, Franco said that Fernandez would explain to members of the UNASUR grouping of South American nations that the leadership change was “completely constitutional” and not a veiled coup as charged by critics.