Paraguay's President-elect Fernando Lugo waves a flag during a rally the night before his five-year term inauguration in Asuncion August 14, 2008. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who once led anti-government marches will take over as president of Paraguay on Friday, promising to end deeply ingrained corruption and give land to the poor.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    ASUNCION, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez, a former Catholic bishop who won Paraguay's presidential election on April 20, assumed office Friday.

    Lugo was born on May 30, 1949 in San Pedro del Parana in Itapua province. He entered a seminary in 1970 and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1977.

    In 1994, Lugo served as bishop in the diocese of San Pedro, Paraguay's poorest region. He gained great popularity among the impoverished, earning the sobriquet of "the bishop of the poor" as he called for social equality and protection of the interests of the disadvantaged.

    Lugo launched his political career in late 2006 after the Vatican suspended him for getting into politics as he had organized a 40,000-strong protest against President Nicanor Duartein March that year.

Paraguay's President-elect Fernando Lugo (R) hugs Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez after arriving in Paraguay August 15, 2008. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who once led anti-government marches, will take over as president of Paraguay on Friday.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    In December 2006, he resigned from church to take part in the 2008 presidential elections.

    Lugo consolidated his leftist coalition bringing together some 20 minority political groups and movements under the Patriotic Alliance for Change.

    As the presidential candidate for the Patriotic Alliance, he won 40.7 percent of the votes, a lead of 10 percentage points over closest rival Blanca Ovelar, a former education minister from the ruling Colorado Party, which had governed Paraguay for 60 years.

    Lugo promises to carry out agricultural reform and improve the living standards of farmers and indigents. He attaches great importance to Paraguay's ties with neighbors such as Brazil and Argentina.