Paraguay ? Fernando Lugo, the former San Pedro Roman Catholic bishop noted for his service to the poor, was elected to the presidency of Paraguay last April. Lugo will be inaugurated today in Asuncion.

His election was farfetched: No priest had been elected president of a Latin American country in living memory, much less one who hewed to the liberation theology practice of agitating on behalf of the oppressed.

Lugo’s election is historic for another reason: He defeated the Colorado Party, which had governed Paraguay since 1947, when Harry Truman was president of the United States.

No political party holding power had governed longer anywhere in the world.

Lugo, 57, plans to take the oath of office today without a necktie but with his trademark Franciscan sandals.

It’ll be the first time in Paraguay’s 197-year history that the ruling party willingly cedes power to the elected opposition.