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Paraguay The Young Colony
Uncertainties over the departure of Pedro de Mendoza led Charles
V to promulgate a cédula (decree) that was unique in
colonial Latin America. The cédula granted colonists the
right to elect the governor of Río de la Plata Province either if
Mendoza had failed to designate a successor or if a successor had
died. Two years later, the colonists elected Irala as governor. His
domain included all of present-day Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay,
most of Chile, and large parts of Brazil and Bolivia. In 1542 the
province became part of the newly established Viceroyalty of Peru,
with its seat in Lima. Beginning in 1559, the Audiencia of Charcas
(present-day Sucre, Bolivia) controlled the province's legal
affairs.
Irala's rule set the pattern for Paraguay's internal affairs
until independence. In addition to the Spaniards, Asunción included
people--mostly men--from present-day France, Italy, Germany,
England, and Portugal. This community of about 350 chose wives and
concubines from among the Guaraní women. Irala had several Guaraní
concubines, and he encouraged his men to marry Indian women and
give up thoughts of returning to Spain. Paraguay soon became a
colony of mestizos, and, prompted by Irala's example, the Europeans
raised their offspring as Spaniards. Nevertheless, continued
arrivals of Europeans allowed for the development of a criollo
elite.
The Guaraní, the Cario, Tapé, Itatine, Guarajo, Tupí, and
related subgroups, were generous people who inhabited an immense
area stretching from the Guyana Highlands in Brazil to the Río
Uruguay. Because the Guaraní were surrounded by other hostile
tribes, however, they were frequently at war. They believed that
permanent wives were inappropriate for warriors, so their marital
relations were loose. Some tribes practiced polygamy with the aim
of increasing the number of offspring. Chiefs often had twenty or
thirty concubines whom they shared freely with visitors, yet they
treated their wives well. They often punished adulterers with
death. Like the area's other tribes, the Guaraní were cannibals.
But they usually ate only their most valiant foes captured in
battle in the hope that they would gain the bravery and power of
their victims.
In contrast with the hospitable Guaraní, the Chaco tribes, such
as the Payaguá (whence the name Paraguay), Guaycurú, M'bayá,
Abipón, Mocobí, and Chiriguano, were implacable enemies of the
whites. Travelers in the Chaco reported that the Indians there were
capable of running with incredible bursts of speed, lassoing and
mounting wild horses in full gallop, and catching deer bare-handed.
Accordingly, the Guaraní accepted the arrival of the Spaniards and
looked to them for protection against fiercer neighboring tribes.
The Guaraní also hoped the Spaniards would lead them once more
against the Incas.
The peace that had prevailed under Irala broke down in 1542 when
Charles V appointed Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca--one of the most
renowned conquistadors of his age--as governor of the province.
Cabeza de Vaca arrived in Asunción after having lived for ten years
among the Indians of Florida. Almost immediately, however, the Rio
de la Plata Province--now consisting of 800 Europeans--split into
2 warring factions. Cabeza de Vaca's enemies accused him of
cronyism and opposed his efforts to protect the interests of the
Indians. Cabeza de Vaca tried to placate his enemies by launching
an expedition into the Chaco in search of a route to Peru. This
move disrupted the Chaco tribes so much that they unleashed a twoyear war against the colony, thus threatening its existence. In the
colony's first of many revolts against the crown, the settlers
seized Cabaza de Vaca, sent him back to Spain in irons, and
returned the governorship to Irala.
Irala ruled without further interruption until his death in
1556. In many ways, his governorship was one of the most humane in
the Spanish New World at that time, and it marked the transition
among the settlers from conquerors to landowners. Irala kept up
good relations with the Guaraní, pacified hostile Indians, made
further explorations of the Chaco, and began trade relations with
Peru. This Basque soldier of fortune saw the beginnings of a
textile industry and the introduction of cattle, which flourished
in the country's fertile hills and meadows. The arrival of Father
Pedro Fernández de la Torre on April 2, 1556, as the first bishop
of Asunción marked the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church
in Paraguay. Irala presided over the construction of a cathedral,
two churches, three convents, and two schools.
Irala eventually antagonized the Indians, however. In the last
years of his life, he yielded to pressure from settlers and
established the encomienda. Under this system, setlers
received estates of land along with the right to the labor and
produce of the Indians living on those estates. Although
encomenderos were expected to care for the spiritual and
material needs of the Indians, the system quickly degenerated into
virtual slavery. In Paraguay 20,000 Indians were divided among 320
encomenderos. This action helped spark a full-scale Indian
revolt in 1560 and 1561. Political instability began troubling the
colony and revolts became commonplace. Also, given his limited
resources and manpower, Irala could do little to check the raids of
Portuguese marauders along his eastern borders. Still, Irala left
Paraguay prosperous and relatively at peace. Although he had found
no El Dorado to equal those of Hernán Cortés in Mexico and Pizarro
in Peru, he was loved by his people, who lamented his passing.
Data as of December 1988
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