Paraguay THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMED FORCES
The Virgin of Asunción of the National Pantheon of Heroes,
Asunción. The Virgin holds the honorary rank of marshal of the
Paraguayan Army.
Courtesy Tim Merrill
The nation's military tradition is rooted in the colonial past,
when armed groups in what is now Paraguay fought against royal
Spanish armies and Jesuit-led Indian forces. Elements of these
Paraguayan armed groups were organized into a force of
approximately 3,000 members that in 1811 repelled an invasion by
Argentine forces seeking to annex Paraguay. As a result of that
victory, Paraguay declared its independence
(see
Struggle with the Porteños, ch. 1).
The modern army and the navy owe their origins to forces built
up under José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who ruled as a dictator
from 1814 to 1840
(see El Supremo Dictador
, ch. 1). After heavily
purging existing forces to ensure their loyalty to him, Francia
imposed strict discipline within the ranks. Under his direction,
army and naval strength was increased to deter Argentina from
further attacks on Paraguay and to act as the infrastructure for
his own autocratic rule. Francia instituted a program of
conscription to meet the military's manpower requirements. He also
placed landholdings confiscated from his opponents under the
control of the army, which until the late 1980s partially fed and
supported itself by either working the land directly or leasing it
out.
The army and navy were further improved by President Carlos
Antonio López, who ruled from 1841 to 1862. Like Francia, López
used the military both to maintain his rule and to deter invasion
by the nation's larger neighbors
(see
Carlos Antonio López, ch. 1).
López was succeeded by his son, Francisco Solano López, an army
general who had studied military matters in Europe. The younger
López completely reorganized the 7,000-member army he had inherited
and began a program of rapid military expansion. By 1864 the army
numbered 30,000 and comprised 30 infantry battalions, 23 cavalry
regiments, and 4 artillery regiments. The navy was also
strengthened, acquiring the world's first steamship built
intentionally as a warship.
The buildup reflected López's aspirations to increase his
influence in the region. Attempts to do so led to the 1865-70 War
of the Triple Alliance, in which Paraguay faced Argentina, Brazil,
and Uruguay in a bloody confrontation that eventually drastically
reduced the national population
(see The War of the Triple Alliance
, ch. 1). Paraguay began the war with an extensive military
establishment, but its opponents, especially Brazil, had far
greater economic and manpower resources. Paraguay's military was
able to make up some of the imbalance through its fierce fighting
and its determination to accept total destruction rather than
surrender. As the war progressed, however, even López's harsh
methods of compelling devotion to battle proved insufficient, and
the nation was reduced to conscripting boys down to the age of
twelve, but boys as young as ten could volunteer. By the war's end,
the army was made up of a few hundred men--most of whom were
wounded, old, or very young. Brazil's soldiers were stationed in
Paraguay as an army of occupation until 1876.
The next few decades were spent in rebuilding the devastated
nation, so there was little money for the military. Although the
army remained small, it emerged as a center of political power and
a primary source of national political leaders. General Bernardino
Caballero became a national leader, governing first directly as
president and later behind the scenes as the head of the armed
forces
(see The First Colorado Era
, ch. 1). He also founded the
National Republican Association--which adopted red as its symbolic
color and came to be known as the Colorado Party.
The bitter competition between the Colorados and their Liberal
Party (Partido Liberal--PL) opponents extended into the armed
forces. The late 1800s saw the beginning of what came to be a
pattern of army intervention in national politics, rebellions by
army factions, and assumption of power by army leaders. The
military saw action both in putting down armed revolts and in
mounting them. Elements of the army fought on both sides when
exiled PL members launched an invasion of Paraguay with the tacit
support of Argentina in 1904, eventually deposing the Colorado
government. The military again divided into warring groups between
1922 and 1924 when civil war broke out among PL factions. By that
time, the army had become the chief source of political power and
the most frequent instigator of political change.
Growing tension with Bolivia over a long-disputed boundary in
the Chaco fueled a secret program of rearmament in the late 1920s
(see
fig. 3). A major clash between the two countries occurred in
1928; both nations then began to prepare for war, building up their
military capability and stationing growing numbers of troops in the
Chaco. After war broke out in July 1932, Paraguay rapidly mobilized
and brought troop strength up to 24,000. The army succeeded several
times in outflanking the more numerous Bolivian forces, cutting
their supply lines and access to water. Paraguayan forces also
benefited from the fact that Bolivian troops--mostly Indians from
the Andes Mountains--were not used to the climate and low altitude
of the Chaco. The Chaco War was the bloodiest war in the Western
Hemisphere during the twentieth century. By the time a truce was
signed in 1935, about 36,000 Paraguayans and an estimated 44,000
Bolivians were dead. The nation was also left economically
devastated
(see The Chaco War and the February Revolution
, ch. 1).
In keeping with the terms of the armistice with Bolivia,
Paraguay reduced its army to under 5,000 soon after the war's end.
The military had captured a large quantity of light arms, mortars,
and artillery in the Chaco War. These made up a substantial portion
of the army inventory for some fifteen years, because little new
equipment was acquired in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, however,
the military establishment expanded, and the army beefed up its
artillery, infantry, and engineer forces. During the same period,
Argentina and Brazil began to compete for military influence in
Paraguay, each presenting the nation with its excess second-hand
equipment, most of which had been manufactured in the United
States. A small quantity of aircraft and other items were also
turned over by the United States, so that by the 1950s most of the
nation's military inventory was of United States manufacture.
Although the years following the Chaco War had been a period of
stagnation for the armed forces in the purely military sphere, the
same could not be said of the political sphere. Paraguayans had
viewed the war as a defense of their homeland, and military service
was seen as a matter of great pride and prestige. As had been the
case after the War of the Triple Alliance, military figures who had
made their reputation in the war emerged very soon as the nation's
political leaders. The first of these leaders was the popular war
hero Colonel Rafael Franco, who came to power in a 1936 coup
against a PL government. He was supported by veterans dissatisfied
with the settlement with Bolivia and with their remuneration for
service, as well as by students, intellectuals, and members of
organized labor seeking various reforms. Franco's supporters formed
the Febrerista Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario
Febrerista--PRF), more commonly known as Febreristas, named after
the month in which the coup had occurred. Although Franco was
deposed in a military revolt a year later, the Febreristas
continued to be an active source of government opposition in the
next two decades. Six of the eleven regimes during the 1935-54
period were headed by army officers, ending with the regime of
General Stroessner. In addition, all of the five civilian
presidents came to power with army backing and/or were deposed
under army pressure
(see
Morínigo and World War II, ch. 1).
The defense forces continued to be divided internally along
political lines. Tension among factions that aligned with different
parties sometimes resulted in open conflict. For instance, army
units rose in revolt during World War II, when Paraguay, like most
South American countries, declared war on the Axis powers. The most
serious conflict came in 1947, however, after President Higinio
Morínigo, an army general who had ruled since 1940--primarily with
the support of the army rather than a particular party--appeared to
give increasing power to the Colorado Party. In reaction, civil war
broke out after the air force and army broke into factions, most of
the military supporting a coalition of Febrerista, PL, and
communist elements. The rebel forces, joined by virtually the
entire navy, were put down only with great difficulty by the
government. Morínigo's cause was helped significantly by the fact
that Stroessner--then a lieutenant colonel--committed his artillery
regiment to the government side.
Because up to 80 percent of the military had joined the rebel
side during the civil war, the government initiated a widespread
purge of the armed forces, and the marines were disbanded entirely
until the 1950s. As a result, the defense forces became almost
completely an organization of the Colorado Party. Stroessner's own
impressive performance in the war was responsible for his emergence
as one of the nation's leading military figures in the late 1940s.
Stroessner and fellow Colorado Party members viewed with particular
bitterness the communist role in the civil war. After that time,
the suggestion of a potential communist threat was sufficient to
promote an immediate negative reaction by the government.
Transforming the armed forces into an organization composed
almost exclusively of Colorado personnel did not rid them of
factionalism. Warring elements within the party took part in coup
attempts in 1948 and 1949, and Stroessner was a main player in each
attempt. At one point, he was forced to flee to Brazil to escape
reprisal for his role in an unsuccessful revolt. He was back in the
country within a few months, however, after taking part in a
successful coup in 1949. As a reward for his role, he was given a
series of rapid promotions, rising to commander in chief of the
armed forces in 1951. Stroessner himself came to power as president
in an army-backed coup in 1954
(see
The 1954 Coup;
Consolidation of the Stroessner Regime
, ch. 1).
Stroessner inherited a military establishment still ridden by
factionalism, as well as an economy damaged by civil war and
political instability. After forces loyal to him forestalled a
planned coup in 1955, he followed up by purging dissident elements
the next year. During the late 1950s, opposition to Stroessner
flared over austerity measures imposed by his government, and
strikes and student demonstrations followed. The opposition drew
inspiration and some funds from foreign sources. A government
crackdown in 1958 and 1959 included another purge of the armed
forces. After that time, virtually all members of the officer corps
were either associated with a pro-Stroessner wing of the Colorado
Party or personally loyal to or dependent upon Stroessner.
Opposition to Stroessner's rule was purely internal until 1959,
when guerrillas that were allied with elements of Febrerista, PL,
and communist opponents mounted sporadic and largely ineffective
raids from bases in Argentina and Brazil. Never of sufficient size
to threaten the government or seriously upset public order, these
insurgencies were easily quelled by the military, which relied on
intelligence provided by Colorado Party members throughout the
country. Using the armed forces and the police, the government also
cracked down on internal opposition, branding many of its opponents
as communist. Guerrilla activity died out by 1964 as a result of
harsh government reprisals, lack of support within Paraguay, and
moves by Argentina and Brazil to close guerrilla bases in their
countries.
By late 1988, in the absence of any external or insurgent
threat, the armed forces continued to help enforce the government's
tight control over the domestic political scene. The military
leadership appeared to accept that national economic conditions
dictated that the government's rhetorical support for the defense
forces could not be matched by sufficient material support to
replace or update the aging armed forces inventory. Although the
military appeared to remain completely loyal to Stroessner, his
government, and the Colorado Party, its personnel were not immune
to factionalism within the Colorado Party. This factionalism
manifested itself in political violence in the mid-1980s
(see
The Twin Pillars of the Stroessner Regime;
Political Developments Since 1986
, ch. 4). As of late 1988, however, political factionalism
within the armed forces did not appear to have seriously affected
operations of any of the three services.
Data as of December 1988
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