History of Paraguay

History of Paraguay

History of Paraguay

Paraguay's next two centuries were dominated by Jesuit missionaries, whose efforts to protect the Amerindians from Portuguese slave traders and Spanish colonists resulted in one of the most remarkable social experiments in the New World.

In the 1998 presidential elections, Raúl Cubas of the Colorado Party became president with 55.3% of the vote, but a year later he had to resign after the assassination of vice president Luis Argaña. Cubas was closely associated with General Oviedo and the latter was linked to the political assassination. Upon Cubas' resignation, the president of the Senate, Luis González Macchi was sworn in as president. González was correctly considered as a caretaker until new elections were held in 2003.

On April 27, 2003, Colorado Party candidate Oscar Duarte won the presidential election with 37.1% of the vote. Duarte has promised to fight corruption in his party and the country. He has sought to distance himself from former Colorado Party leaders and has sought to portray himself as a modernizer and democratizing leader that will open Paraguay to the world economy.

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The first European known to have explored Paraguay was the Italian Sebastian Cabot, sailing from 1526 to 1530 in the service of Spain.

The next dictator was Carlos Antonio López. López loosened the ties of dictatorship only slightly, but reversed Francia's paranoid isolationism. He reestablished communications with the outside world and normalized relations. López encouraged road and railway building, improved education somewhat, and became the largest landowner and the richest man in Paraguay. He made his son Francisco Solano López commander-in-chief of the army, thereby ensuring the younger López's succession to power in 1862, when the elder López died.

During his dictatorship, Francisco Solano López provoked quarrels with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, who allied and attacked Paraguay. The War of the Triple Alliance (1865–70), sometimes called the Paraguayan War, was the bloodiest in Latin American history.

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The first permanent Spanish settlement, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption, present-day Asunción), was founded at the confluence of the Paraguay river on Assumption Day, 15 August 1537.

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Once they had left, the reducciones disappeared.The Spanish colony at Asunción, it dominated the area of the Río de la Plata throughout this period. However, in 1776, when Buenos Aires became the capital of the new viceroyalty of La Plata, Asunción was reduced to an outpost.

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Federico Chávez seized control, and ruled from 1949 until 1954. In May 1954, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, used his cavalry to seize power. He had himself elected president as the candidate of the Colorado Party, and then was reelected in another single-slate election in 1958, although he did permit the Liberal Party to hold its first convention in many years. With US help, he brought financial stability to an economy racked by runaway inflation, but he used terrorist methods in silencing all opposition. Exiles who invaded Paraguay simultaneously from Argentina and Brazil in December 1959 were easily routed. Six other small invasions during 1960 were also repulsed. Stroessner won a third presidential term in February 1963, despite the constitutional stipulation that a president could be reelected only once.In August 1967, a constitutional convention approved a new governing document that not only provided for a bicameral legislature but also established the legal means for Stroessner to run for reelection. Stroessner did so in 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1988, all with only token opposition permitted. On 17 September 1980, the exiled former dictator of Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who had been granted asylum by the Stroessner government, was assassinated in Asunción, and Paraguay broke off relations with Nicaragua.

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1814-1840

1949-1988

1767-1776

1865-1870

1988-2017

1537

1932-1939

Citations

Current Event

Bullock, James. "What happened in Paraguay? – video report." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

In achieving independence, Paraguay first had to fight the forces of Argentina. Buenos Aires called on Paraguay in 1810 to follow its lead in a virtual declaration of independence. Paraguay declared independence from Spain but rejected the leadership of Buenos Aires. Paraguay completed its move toward independence by deposing the last of its royal governors in 1811.

Since then, Paraguay has been dominated by dictatorships or near-dictatorships. The first and most famous of the dictators was José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, was elected in 1811 to govern the newly independent nation. He was granted full dictatorial powers for three years in 1814 and thereafter had the term extended for life. Francia attempted to cut Paraguay off from all contact. Commerce was suspended, foreigners were expelled, relations were broken off. All criticism was stifled, and a widespread spy network was developed. However, at the same time, Francia was honest and tireless in his devotion to his personal concept of the country's welfare. Francia governed until his death in 1840,and was known as the "founding father."

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"Paraguay - History." Encyclopedia of the Nations. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2017

As the settlements prospered and grew in number to around 30, the jealousy of the colonists sparked a campaign to discredit the Jesuits. Eventually, the King of Spain became convinced that the order was trying to set up a private kingdom in the New World, and in 1767, he expelled the Jesuits from the New World

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For the next 50 years, Paraguay stagnated economically. The male population was replaced by an influx of immigrants from Italy, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. Politically, there was a succession of leaders, alternating between the Colorado and Liberal parties. Then, a long-smoldering feud with Bolivia broke into open warfare (1932–35) after oil was discovered. Although outnumbered three to one, the Paraguayans had higher morale, were brilliantly led, and were better adapted to the climate of the region. Moreover, they regarded the conflict as a national undertaking to avenge the defeat of 1870. Paraguayans conquered three-fourths of the disputed territory, most of which they retained following the peace settlement of 1938.

Although President Eusebio Ayala emerged victorious from the Chaco War, he did not last long. The war produced a set of heroes, all of whom had great ambitions. One such man, Col. Rafael Franco, took power in February 1936. In 1939, after two more coups, Gen. José Felix Estigarribía, commander-in-chief during the Chaco War, was elected president. Estigarribía was killed in an airplane crash only a year later, and Gen. Higinio Morínigo, the minister of war, was appointed president by the cabinet. Through World War II, Morínigo received large amounts of aid from the United States, even though he allowed widespread Axis activity in the country. Meanwhile, he dealt harshly with domestic critics.

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Demonstrators burn the Paraguayan government’s congress building on Friday night following a day of anti-government protests. Unrest began on Friday as the nation’s lawmakers approved a bill that could allow the president, Horacio Cartes, to run for another term. Since 1992 presidents have been banned from more than one term in office following the fall of dictator Alfredo Stroessner who ruled the country for over 30 years

The World Factbook: PARAGUAY." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.