In his first two months in office, Paraguayan President Federico Franco has moved faster to satisfy the land claims of indigenous communities than any Paraguayan president in recent memory and, in the process, put huge tracts of environmentally sensitive land out of reach of commercial ranchers and farmers. But that has done little to satisfy much of the environmental community, which has become wary of Franco since he swept to power on June 22 following the impeachment of his predecessor, Fernando Lugo. Indeed, many green advocates claim Lugo’s replacement with Franco, his vice president, was due to pressure from multinational investors demanding quicker approvals of environmentally questionable projects. The new president, they charge, has been eager to do the business sector’s bidding. Exhibit A in... [Log in to read more]