In South America, the White House Has Nowhere to Turn: Bush's Paraguayan Fiasco

[Judi Lynn]

April 22, 2008
In South America, the White House Has Nowhere to Turn
Bush's Paraguayan Fiasco
By NIKOLAS KOZLOFF


The tiny, land locked nation of Paraguay has not been blessed with political good fortune. For decades, anti-Communist General Alfredo Stroessner, who “disappeared” and tortured thousands of dissidents, ruled over this country of some 7 million people. Stroessner was dislodged by his military subordinates in 1989 and later died in exile in Brazil at the age of 93.

However, the Colorado Party, which backed Stroessner during his 35-year dictatorship, maintained a tight lock on political power while enriching itself and the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Paraguayans. Under Colarado rule, Paraguay became renowned as a haven for fugitive Nazis, smugglers and drug traffickers.

For years, the U.S. backed repressive military rule in Paraguay in an effort to keep a lid on progressive social change. For Washington, Stroessner, a strong anti-communist, could do no wrong. A willing U.S. ally during the Cold War, Stroessner supported Lyndon Johnson’s invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965 and even offered to help send troops to Vietnam.

Even in Paraguay’s darkest hours, while Stroessner harbored Nazi war criminals, crushed non communist peaceful opposition and persecuted the indigenous population (including forcibly assimilating the Ache population, a policy which ended in bloodshed, sexual slavery and servitude), the U.S. continued to back the General. It wasn’t until the late 1970s, with the arrival of Jimmy Carter in the White House, that the U.S. withdrew its support.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff04222008.html

[crikkett]

1. For the rest of the folks: what comes after the first 4 paragraphs

This article is a quick intro to Paraguay's new President Fernando Lugo. It starts by reminding us of the US' historical 'cozy' relationship with the dictator Stroessner, the Colorado Party that supported him, and of neocon privatization policies that later ruined the country.

In contrast, Lugo is a priest who studied Liberation Theology, a doctrine from the 60s that has the church actively advocating for the poor.

Under Lugo, the article suggests, Paraguay will have a renewed influence in the region in the wake of S. America's Pink Tide. Also, hydroelectric energy could bring some revitalization to Paraguay.

One interesting quote was of Lugo saying something like: the US really has no choice but to accept the leftist reforms in S. America.


a few years ago someone decided that news articles should abandon their top-down writing style and become more narrative. That means that journalists can drop the quest for facts and use emotional language instead. It also means that you can't just snip a news article at the top and hope to learn anything from it anymore.