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Paraguay The Colorado Party
Unavailable
A school in Limpio constructed by the "Colorado government
of President Stroessner"
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank
Two conflicting political movements--the Colorado Party and the
Liberal Party (Partido Liberal--PL)--emerged following the
departure of Argentine and Brazilian forces in 1876
(see Liberals Versus Colorados
, ch. 1). The Colorados dominated politics between
1876 and 1904, whereas the Liberals governed between 1904 and 1940.
Following the dictatorship of Morínigo and the resulting civil war,
the divided Colorados returned to power in 1948.
Upon assuming office in 1954, Stroessner turned the Colorado
Party into a key element of his rule. Unusual in the Latin American
context, the party was a highly organized, omnipresent, and
important instrument for the control of society and the functioning
of government. The Colorado Party served the interests of the
Stroessner regime in a number of ways. First, the party sponsored
numerous rallies and demonstrations, thereby promoting
identification of the population with the regime. Speakers at such
rallies generally employed the language of nationalism, a
particularly important theme in a small, landlocked country
surrounded by more powerful neighbors. Second, the party mobilized
electoral support for government-sponsored candidates. Third, the
extensive party media, including the daily newspaper Patria
and the radio program "La Voz del Coloradismo," promoted the
government's view of national and international events. In
addition, the party employed its ancillary organizations, which
included professional associations, veterans' groups, women's
federations, peasants' groups, cultural societies, and students'
clubs, to maintain contact with virtually all sectors in the
country.
The Colorado Party's control of jobs in the public and
semipublic sectors, a particularly important situation in an
underdeveloped country short of opportunities in the private
sector, also enabled it to co-opt all potentially significant
elements into the regime. Party membership was considered necessary
for success. Civilian employees of the central and local
governments, including teachers and workers in state hospitals,
were recruited from within the ranks of the party, and party dues
were deducted from their salaries. Officers in the armed forces
also were obliged to join the party; indeed, admission to the
officer corps was restricted to children of Colorados. In the late
1980s, the party claimed a membership of 1.4 million, or
approximately 35 percent of the total population.
Colorado local committees (seccionales) were found in
every community, dispensing jobs and favors to party members. These
committees, of which there were 243 in 1988 (including 26 in
Asunción), met at least once a week and had executive committees of
9 members and 6 alternates who served 3-year terms of office. The
local committees, which also had more specialized units for
laborers, peasants, youth, and women, served as the party base and
collected intelligence. The party also had a rural militia, the
py nandí, or "barefoot ones," which was estimated to number
15,000. The py nandí were especially active in the 1960s in
pursuing guerrilla bands.
In theory, the highest body in the Colorado Party was the
National Convention, which convened regularly every three years or
could be convoked more frequently in the case of crises or to
nominate slates for elections. The party was actually run, however,
by the National Committee of the Colorado Party (Junta de
Gobierno), which consisted of thirty-five members and sixteen
alternates elected at the National Convention. The National
Committee maintained contact with the party's ancillary
organizations and supervised the local committees. The committee
also elected its own executive consisting of a president, three
vice presidents, and other officials. The National Committee
president set the party's agenda, chaired executive meetings,
presented the budget, called emergency sessions, and represented
the party before the government or other organizations.
Given the importance of the Colorado Party in defending the
Stroessner regime, the National Committee attempted to avoid at all
costs the emergence of contested leadership lists in local
committees. When such lists did appear in the mid-1980s, however,
they ironically reflected cracks that had developed within the
National Committee itself. The committee split into two main camps:
militants (militantes) and traditionalists
(tradicionalistas). Militants, also known as Stronistas,
favored Stroessner's regime and wanted little or no change. They
generally felt more loyalty to Stroessner personally than to the
party. Their leaders included those who particularly benefited from
the system and perceived it as good for themselves and the country.
Traditionalists favored a transition to a less authoritarian
regime. They believed Paraguay was moving toward a more open system
and wanted the party to play a role in the process. Traditionalists
stressed the original content of Colorado ideology and further
emphasized democracy and social justice. Many of their leaders were
from families who had played a major role in the party since the
1940s.
Both militants and traditionalists were subdivided into several
factions. Militants broke into two camps: the orthodox
(ortodoxo) and institutionalists
(institucionalistas). The orthodox favored having Stroessner
remain in power until he died, after which his son, Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Stroessner Mora, would succeed. The
institutionalists were somewhat more pragmatic. One well-known
advocate of this position, the minister of public health and social
welfare, Adán Godoy Jiménez, proposed that Stroessner stay in power
until he died or resigned, at which time a civilian or military
figure with the same orientation would assume power.
Traditionalists were even more fragmented than were militants.
The traditionalist group closest to the regime, at least prior to
the rupture of 1987, was led by Juan Ramón Chaves, the octogenarian
president of the party for twenty-five years and president of the
Senate, who symbolized the link to the pre-Stroessner period. The
ethicals (éticos) coalesced around National Committee member
Carlos Romero Arza, the son of Tomás Romero Pereira, architect of
the party's alliance with Stroessner in 1954. In a September 1985
speech, Romero Arza called attention to the lack of political
ethics in the party. He denounced corruption and bad management,
blaming opportunists who had joined the party during the Stroessner
regime as a way to enrich themselves. Romero Arza urged a return to
the traditional values that inspired previous Colorado governments
and called for a political dialogue between the party and the
political opposition.
Two additional factions formed in 1987. One--the Movement for
Colorado Integration (Movimiento de Integración Colorado--MIC),
also called the Group of Thirty-four--was composed of longstanding
Colorados who had retired from public life. Led by Edgar L.
Ynsfrán, a former minister of interior, the MIC advocated a
reassertion of the authority of the National Committee and a
restructuring of the party to confront the opposition in a more
open system. Another faction--the National and Popular Movement
(Movimiento Nacional y Popular)--was led by congressman and
Colorado intellectual Leandro Prieto Yegros and proposed to act as
a bridge between the traditionalists and the militants.
Colorado Party factionalism broke into public prominence
following elections in late 1984 for members of the National
Committee. Mario Abdo Benítez, a militant and Stroessner's private
secretary for twenty years, had expected to be elected the first
vice president in recognition of his support of the Stronato. After
Abdo Benítez was unexpectedly defeated at the National Convention,
his followers carried on their fight at the local committee level.
Conflicts became public in some towns, with rival groups of
Colorados accusing each other of rigging the party elections and
appealing for support from different members in the National
Committee.
The conflict took a dramatic turn in early 1986 when the
ethicals publicly opposed Stroessner's bid for yet another term of
office and openly called for a civilian Colorado Party candidate in
the 1988 elections. They were later joined by the MIC in this
appeal. This action represented the first time since 1959 that an
organized sector of the party openly opposed Stroessner. In April
1986, Stroessner acknowledged the divisions in the party and
denounced the ethicals and the MIC as "deserters." In retaliation
for the ethicals' stance, Stroessner fired Romero Arza from his
position at the National Development Bank and forced him to resign
from the Council of State. Those around him became politically
isolated and had to stand on the sidelines at the regular National
Convention in August 1987.
In May 1987, the militants presented their slate of four
candidates for the presidency and three vice presidencies of the
National Committee. The slate was headed by Sabino Augusto
Montanaro, minister of interior since 1968, and also included
Benítez, Godoy, and José Eugenio Jacquet, minister of justice and
labor. In 1976 Montanaro had been excommunicated by the Roman
Catholic Church for allowing the police to torture church workers
who were involved in rural protests. Although the militants had
captured control of a majority of the local committees and thus
appeared headed for a solid victory at the National Convention,
Montanaro decided to leave nothing to chance. A few hours before
the convention was to begin, the police arrived at the building
where it was to be held and restricted access to the militants and
those from the National and Popular Movement, who by then had
endorsed the militants' slate. Although Chaves, who was still the
party's president and was the nominee of the traditionalists,
declared the proceedings invalid, the militants went ahead with the
convention and captured the four leadership posts and all other
seats on the National Committee. Within two weeks, Stroessner had
endorsed the militants' victory and claimed that it was a
legitimate expression of the Colorado majority.
The militants' victory at the National Convention was repeated
in November 1987, when the party held a nominating convention for
the presidential and congressional election scheduled for February
1988. The 874 militant delegates unanimously chose Stroessner to be
the Colorado Party standard-bearer and drew up a slate of
congressional candidates that excluded traditionalists. These
victories were achieved, however, at the cost of aggravated
divisions in the party, itself a key component of the regime's
infrastructure.
By mid-1988 Stroessner had given no indication of choosing a
likely successor. Observers assumed that the party, in conjunction
with the armed forces, would play a vital role in the succession
process. Yet although Stroessner clearly supported the militant
wing of the party, most observers believed that the militants
lacked close contacts with the armed forces.
Data as of December 1988
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