Luis Federico Franco Gómez (born 24 July 1962) is a

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

an politician who was

President of Paraguay The president of Paraguay (), officially known as the president of the Republic of Paraguay (), is the head of the executive branch of the government of Paraguay, serving as both head of state and head of government according to the Constitu ...

from June 2012 until August 2013. A member of the

Authentic Radical Liberal Party The Authentic Radical Liberal Party ( or ''PLRA'') is a liberal and radical political party in Paraguay. The party is a full member of Liberal International. The ''liberales'', as they are known, are the leading opposition to the dominant con ...

(PLRA), he was elected as

Vice President of Paraguay A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

in the 2008 presidential election as the running mate of

Fernando Lugo Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez (; born 30 May 1951) is a Paraguayan politician and Loss of clerical state, laicized Bishops in the Catholic Church, Catholic bishop who was President of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. Previously, he was a Roman Cath ...

; he took office in August 2008. Following Lugo's impeachment by the Senate on 22 June 2012, he succeeded Lugo as President to complete the presidential mandate until 15 August 2013. Franco is a surgeon by profession. He is the brother of Julio César Franco, senator and former chairman of

, and also a former Vice President. Federico Franco is also former chairman of PLRA and was Governor of

Central Department Central () is a Departments of Paraguay, department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 1,883,927 inhabitants, it is the most populated of the 17 departments of Paraguay. It is also the smallest department, with a total area of . Geogra ...

from 2003 to 2008.

Biography

Early life

Federico Franco was born in the city of

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

on 24 July 1962. He was married on 20 February 1982 to Emilia Alfaro, elected deputy of Paraguay for the period 2008–2013. He is the father of four children. Franco studied primary school in the Dominican Republic, its baseline were conducted at the National College of the Capital. His secondary education took place in the Apostolic College San Jose, all in Asunción. As for the tertiary level, he hoped to become a doctor so he entered the Faculty of Medical Sciences, National University of Asuncion. Upon completion of the coursework in 1986 he received the title of Surgeon with an overall average of 4.56 to 5.00. Then he obtained a graduate degree in Internal Medicine.

Medical career

The Franco family owns a hospital in the city of Fernando de la Mora (''Sanatorio Franco''), he and his brothers owned, staffed since its inception. During the period 1990–1991 he served as head of interns and residents 1CCM Hospital de Clinicas (HC), also as head of emergency call, 1CCM (HC). He was an instructor of medical semiology (1991–1992), head of National Guard Hospital (1994–1996) and chief of internal medicine residents from the same place. He was also chief room of the National Hospital Medical Clinic and head of cardiology ward of the hospital. On 24 June 1991 was a member of the Paraguayan Society of Internal Medicine and member of the Executive Committee of the Paraguayan Society of Internal Medicine.

Political career

Federico Franco was governor of the Central department during the 2003–2008 period, for the

. The party discussed in 2008 if they should support the ticket of Lugo in the presidential election or share the candidacy with him; the second option prevailed and Franco ran for the vice-presidency under Lugo's ticket. He was critical of the presidency of Lugo, such as with the management of lands and the 2009 controversy about Lugo's son. Lugo was impeached on 21 June 2012 and removed from office a day later. The UNASUR expressed concerns that Lugo's removal amounted to a coup d'état, since Lugo had only two hours to prepare a defense. Federico Franco then became the new president, taking the

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

an hour later. He served the balance of Lugo's term, which lasted until August 2013. He was barred from running for a full term in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

; the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

does not allow a president to run for reelection even if he serves a partial term.

Presidency

One of Franco's first acts was to replace

Rubén Candia Amarilla Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...

as Interior Minister with Carmelo Caballero. Candia Amarilla had briefly succeeded

Carlos Filizzola Carlos Alberto Filizzola Pallarés (born 24 July 1959) is a Paraguayan physician, labor unionist and politician who served as mayor of Asunción from 1991 to 1996, being the first one to be democratically elected. He later served four terms as se ...

as Fernando Lugo's Interior Minister, after Filizzola resigned on 15 June. Franco also promptly resumed stalled negotiations with

Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan is a Canada-based mining company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, it is a subsidiary of global mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsi ...

over a $4 billion aluminum plant and approved sales of

genetically modified Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including th ...

soy beans from

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

. He also appoints several

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

representatives to his government. Budget cuts in social programmes are announced, as well as lay-offs in the public sector.

=Corruption

= In spite of its brevity and of the initial good economic situation of

, the presidential management of Federico Franco was characterized by the significant increase of the financial deficit of the country. After his departure from power, the new government blamed him for having plundered the state's resources through a vast system of corruption and clientelism organized around the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. The former president was subsequently denounced by several of his political collaborators (one of whom himself was sentenced to 6 years in prison for corruption) for misappropriations of public money made on his initiative. From 2008, when he took office in the government, to its exit of the power in 2012, his fortune increased by almost 750%.

=Cabinet

= * Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

José Félix Fernández Estigarribia José Félix Fernández Estigarribia (born 4 February 1941) is a Paraguayan politician and diplomat. He studied law at the National University of Asunción. He served twice as Foreign Minister of Paraguay, first under Luis González Macchi (19 ...

* Ministry of Finance: Manuel Ferreira Brusquetti * Ministry of Internal Affairs: Carmelo Caballero * Ministry of National Defence: María Liz García de Arnold * Ministry of Public Works and Communications: Enrique Salyn Buzarquis * Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare: Antonio Arbo * Ministry of Agriculture and Stockbreeding: Enzo Cardozo * Ministry of Education and Culture: Horacio Galeano Perrone * Ministry of Justice and Labor: María Lorena Segovia Azucas

References

External links

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Federico 1962 births Authentic Radical Liberal Party politicians Living people Governors of Central Department Paraguayan surgeons Politicians from Asunción Presidents of Paraguay Universidad Nacional de Asunción alumni Vice presidents of Paraguay 21st-century Paraguayan politicians