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Paraguay The Media
Although there was some improvement in the human rights
situation in Paraguay in the late 1980s, the same cannot be said
regarding the media. The Stroessner regime did not hesitate to
silence newspapers and radio stations that became too independent
and critical. The only media that remained critical and were
allowed to function belonged to the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1988 there were five progovernment daily newspapers in
Asunción: El Diario de Noticias, Hoy, La
Tarde, Ultima Hora, and Patria. Ultima
Hora demonstrated somewhat more independence from the regime
than the other four. Weekly newspapers included one published by
the Colorado Party, Mayoría, and another, more or less
independent, Nande, which practiced self-censorship. There
was one opposition weekly, Sendero, published by the Roman
Catholic Church. It had a limited circulation and was often
confiscated off the streets. In addition, Mario Medina, bishop of
Benjamín Aceval, published a monthly journal, Nuestro
Tiempo, that focused on land problems, human rights issues, and
problems with freedom of the press. Because of government
harassment, the journal was printed in Brazil. Consequently,
getting it into Paraguay was difficult; the maximum circulation of
300 copies was either hand delivered or mailed in disguised
envelopes.
In the early 1980s, ABC Color was the largest selling
daily newspaper, having a circulation of 85,000. The newspaper was
founded in 1967 by Aldo Zuccolillo--a wealthy businessman and
confidant of Stroessner and others in his inner circle--and was
originally supportive of the regime. The paper began to focus on
polemical issues, however, including corruption among senior
government officials and the negative aspects of the Treaty of
Itaipú with Brazil, and included interviews with opposition
politicians. Its circulation increased, and it became the most
important source in Paraguay for independent information. In May
1983, ABC Color' offices were surrounded by troops, and
Zuccolillo was arrested. Following further harassment, the
newspaper was shut down in March 1984 by order of the minister of
interior. Despite resolutions in the United States Congress,
protests by the United States embassy in Asunción, and protest
visits by the Inter-American Press Association, as of 1988 ABC
Color remained closed.
In the late 1980s, there were two semi-official television
stations and fifty-two radio stations, only three of which were
independent. One of the latter was Radio Caritas of the Roman
Catholic Church. Until it was closed in January 1987, the most
important independent station was Radio Ñandutí. The station's
popular live phone-in program frequently aired complaints about
corruption and the lack of democracy. In July 1983, however, Radio
Ñandutí's director, Humberto Rubín, was arrested several times; in
April and May 1986, the station was attacked by Colorado
vigilantes. After months of jamming and other harassment, Radio
Ñandutí was finally forced off the air.
Although little free media existed in the late 1980s, there was,
nevertheless, a certain amount of critical reporting on political
and social events and themes in the progovernment dailies.
Occasionally reported, for example, were activities of and
statements by unrecognized political parties, labor organizations,
and community organizations; critical statements by the Roman
Catholic Church and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;
harassment and imprisonment of opposition politicians; and
repression of peasants. Self-censorship was predominant, but there
was more reporting on critical topics than might have been
anticipated under a tightly controlled political system. Most
reports did not, however, touch directly upon the president except
to praise and esteem him.
Data as of December 1988
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