Leftward Shift

21 April 2008



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Paraguay Throws out Colorado Party after 61 Years

The Asociación Nacional Republicana – Partido Colorado [ANR-PC] has run Paraguay since 1947. From that year until 1962, it was the only legal political party in the country. Dictator Alfredo Stroessner used the Colorado Party along with the military to ensure that he kept his job, blurring the distinction between party and state. Over the week-end, the people of Paraguay voted the Colorado Party out of power.

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo put together a coalition called the Patriotic Alliance for Change aimed at attacking poverty and unemployment. He carried 41% of the vote forcing the Colorado Party’s candidate Blanca Ovelar into second place with 31%. Former army chief Lino Oviedo won 22%. Under the terms of the Paraguayan constitution, there is no run-off; a plurality is all that is needed to win.

Sitting President Nicanor Duarte held a news conference at which he seemed pleased at his party losing an election. He said, “For the first time in our history, one party will transfer power to another without a coup, without bloodshed and without fighting among brothers.” That is something of which to be proud, and one hopes the people of Paraguay experience it on a regular basis.

The Lugo government has its work cut out for it. First off, as an alliance of political interests rather than a party, there isn’t the same party apparatus for whipping legislators to support the government. Second, the Colorado Party still has enough power in the nation to be a destabilizing force. Third, the economy is a complete mess; it grew at 6.4% last year, but 36% of the population lives in poverty and 27% are underemployed according to the government’s own figures. The rich do quite well, but they always do.

Above all, though, the issue of corruption raises its ugly head. Mr. Lugo knows it is a problem. “Most of Paraguay's citizens are now responsible for the change that is starting so that the country won’t be remembered just for its corruption and poverty but for its honesty,” Mr. Lugo said Sunday night at a news conference in Asuncion. If he can make some headway here, the future of the people of Paraguay will be much brighter. If not, the Colorado Party may make a comeback.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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