Horacio Cartes declared new Paraguay President

Paraguayans have elected a wealthy tobacco magnate as president, returning the Colorado Party to the top office that it held for 61 years before former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won the office in 2008.

The 58-year-old Cartes is part of the tiny elite that controls just about everything in Paraguay. His father sold Cessna airplanes and Cartes went to school in the U.S. Now he owns banks, investment funds, agricultural estates, a soda maker and tobacco plantations, and he runs the champion Libertad football club.

Many Paraguayans hope this election will end Paraguay’s isolation after Mercosur suspended its membership for impeaching Lugo.