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| Fernando Lugo is constitutionally barred from running for a second term |
Paraguayan
President Fernando Lugo has said he will recognise that he fathered a
10-year-old child born when he was still a Roman Catholic bishop.
The mother,
Narcisa Delacruz, is a nurse who said she met Mr Lugo after separating from her
husband.
She is the
fourth woman to come forward with similar allegations since Mr Lugo, 61,
renounced the priesthood and was elected in 2008.
This is the
second child he has acknowledged.
Narcisa
Delacruz, 42, said Mr Lugo informally recognised paternity of her younger son,
Angel, soon after his birth in the northern town of Santani.
"I
approached him when the baby was 10 months old and showed him the baby. He said
it was a beautiful child and from that day he began helping financially to
support the baby."
She said
she avoided filing for formal recognition before to avoid a scandal that could
damage the Paraguayan president's political prospects.
But she
changed her mind after her son demanded to have his father's surname.
Narcisa
Delacruz had four children when she met Mr Lugo and was divorcing her husband.
Mr Lugo's
lawyer, Marcos Farina, says the president has acknowledged the paternity
"without any problems" and asked him to file the paperwork to have
the child's name changed.
DNA tests
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| Narcisa Delacruz said she has kept quiet for years to avoid a scandal |
Mr Lugo
served as a Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of San Pedro, one of
Paraguay's poorest areas, until stepping down in December 2006, saying he felt
powerless to help the country's poor.
He took
office as president two years later, ending 61 years of conservative rule in
Paraguay.
But in
2009, the country was shocked when he acknowledged he was the father of a
three-year-old child, Guillermo Armindo.
Two other
women - Benigna Leguizamon and Hortenzia Moran - have since filed paternity
suits against the former cleric.
DNA tests
have shown that he had not fathered a child with Hortenzia Moran.
Ms Moran
said her son, Juan Pablo, was conceived while she was working for one of the
left-wing parties that supported Mr Lugo's candidacy for president in 2008.
Ms
Leguizamon, who has three other children, said she had relations with Mr Lugo
when she worked as a cleaner in San Pedro region, where he was a bishop.
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