Above: former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti is “energetically” condemning the impeachment of Paraguay President Fernando Lugo, calling it a “threat to democratic regimes in the region.”

Haiti’s government, in a statement released by the office of President Michel Martelly, reiterated its commitment to the values contained several charters, including the Inter-American Democratic Charter of September 2001, which it said call for the “respect of the popular will.”

Haiti has instructed its permanent representative at the Organization of American states, Ambassador Duly Brutus, to adopt “appropriate measures” in consultation with other countries in the region, for the return of Paraguay’s “legitimate” President Lugo.

Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies voted 76 to 1 on June 21 to impeach Lugo, a former bishop, in the wake of the death of 17 people in a struggle between police and landless peasants on June 15.

Impeachment supporters pointed to that incident as one of several reasons for impeachment.

Haiti’s Martelly also said the summary judgment violated the rights of the defence.

The OAS has said that the removal of Lugo has had a “great impact” on the government on the region. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said in a statement last week that, although formally conforming to the law, the judgment did not appear to comply with all legal provisions of the right to self-defence.