|
Paraguay Local Government
Paraguay is a centralized republic with nineteen departments,
fourteen of which are east of the Río Paraguay and the remainder in
the Chaco region
(see
fig. 1). The capital, Asunción, is located in
the Central Department. The central government exerts complete
control over local administration. The departments are headed by
government delegates (delegados de gobierno) who are
appointed by the president and report to the minister of interior.
Their duties are concerned primarily with public order and internal
security. The departments are divided into municipalities--the
local government unit--of which there were 200 in 1988.
A municipality consisted of a town or village and the
surrounding rural area. In order to qualify as a municipality, an
area had to have a minimum population of 10,000 in 1988, a central
town or village with a defined geographical area, and sufficient
financial resources to pay for its municipal needs.
There is no separate town or city government apart from the
municipality. The municipality is limited in jurisdiction; it has
no control over education, police, and social welfare matters or
over public health except for urban sanitation. Each municipality
has a presidentially appointed mayor (intendente) who acts
as executive agent of the municipality. In addition, each
municipality has a board (junta municipal) elected by local
residents for a five-year term of office. A rural municipality is
supervised by a local company police sergeant (sargento de
companía) who reports both to the government delegate and the
minister of interior.
Data as of December 1988
|
