Government downplays "silver" anniversary of dictator Alfredo Stroessner's departure.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
Paraguay marked the 25th anniversary earlier this month of its return to democracy following three and one-half decades of bloody civic-military dictatorship under Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). Stroessner's was the longest-running single-leader dictatorship in Latin American history. The Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua lasted longer (43 years) but involved three different heads of state (a father and two sons) and was interrupted at various times.
And yet for all its significance, reactions to the anniversary, on Feb. 3, were markedly subdued, particularly by the government. There were a few academic events and a few television news items dedicated to the issue. Different groups made isolated demands. Also, the country's six main labor unions took the opportunity to announce an upcoming general strike (set for late March) in opposition to a controversial privatization program being pushed through by President Horacio Cartes (NotiSur, Nov. 1, 2013). Paraguay's main governmental bodies and political parties, however, were conspicuously quiet.
Many observers say the reason for the silence is that the people who now have positions of power in Paraguay tended, in large part, to benefit from the dictatorship. "There are sectors within the media, in politics, and in the business world that are interested in there not being any [historical] memory," Juan Rivarola, a legal advisor with Paraguay's Direccion General de Verdad, Justicia y Reparacion (DGVJR), told the Spanish news agency EFE. "Keep in mind that many of country's fortunes were made during the Stroessner era, thanks to political favoritism and illegal business dealings."
The resilient Partido Colorado
Stroessner was not overthrown by a popular or military movement but rather by a "palace coup" orchestrated by his Army chief, Gen. Andres Rodriguez, with whom he was also related by marriage. Stroessner's eldest son married Gen. Rodriguez's daughter.
The Partido Colorado, the party that partnered with Stroessner throughout his 35-year regime, was neither investigated nor outlawed. Not only that, it retained control of the government--until 2008, when Fernando Lugo (2008-2012), a progressive, won the presidency (NotiSur, April 25, 2008). Denied its customary leadership role, the Partido Colorado continued, nevertheless, to exert a tremendous amount of political power. In 2013, after Lugo was ousted in a parliamentary coup (NotiSur, July 13, 2012), it once again took control of the...
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