Paraguay: The Forgotten General
The regimes that we have just examined appear to be dictatorships that were not very military in character. First, these tyrants in fact enjoyed other political resources that permitted them to counterbalance or to supplement their military support. Democracy, in the case of Batista, seems to have been used for this purpose. Second, they deinstitutionalized the military, either by creating chains of command and selection that were based on particularistic criteria and highly influenced by nepotism, or by the subversion of hierarchy and discipline, as in the case of the sergeants' revolution in Cuba. Nevertheless, the state-oriented armies of South America, even in the contemporary period, have produced systems of power that involve continuing authoritarian and personalistic controls that are comparable to those produced by the neocolonial armies.
Indeed, the oldest dictator of the continent is an authentic military man who has been solidly in power for more than a quarter of a century. In 1954 General Alfredo Stroessner seized power in a coup d'état. Since that time Paraguay, the unfortunate Arcadia between the rivers (the Paraná and the Paraguay), has been in the hands of a general whose primary concern seems to be that no one should talk about him or his country.
Every effort is made to ensure that the world is not too interested in this little, essentially rural country squeezed between the two South American major powers, Brazil and Argentina. It has even been said that to be more certain, the correspondents of the major press agencies belonged to the official party; one of them, the correspondent of Agence France Presse, was thought to be a member of the government, and more specifically of the office of the president. That desire to be ignored is not entirely explained by the fact that it is a country that has been isolated historically and shut in with its own language (Guarany[*] ) and culture. Cut off as it was from the world by the nationalist autocrat, Francia, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, then blockaded by the Argentine, Rosas, before being encircled by the armies of the Triple Alliance from 1865 to 1870, the archaic society of Paraguay was never oriented very much toward the outside world. However, that modest attitude is also shared by a dictator who has been fortunate enough to be able to break the records for longevity of his more prestigious and colorful predecessors to whose memory he does not hesitate to appeal. Following the example of Francia, "El Supremo," who held power as dictator from 1816 until 1840, and of Francisco Solano López, "the Marshall," who succeeded his father in 1862 and died on the field of battle against the armies of Brazil in 1869, Stroessner at the beginning of his regime bestowed on himself the modest title of "El Continuador."[34] Nevertheless, he did not affront his powerful neighbors as did López, or defy the metropolitan powers as did Franda, indeed, he did the opposite.
Since the Paraguayan War decimated the country—only half of its 1860 population and one tenth of its adult males survived—Paraguay has had a tradition of military heroism and valor that is recognized throughout the continent. In the twentieth century the country established a regular standing army with obligatory military service for two years (in fact, selectively applied, since it is sufficient to pay a tax to be exempted) and an efficient system of military schools.[35] Its officers were very frequently favorably received for advanced training (especially before the establishment of the Superior War School to train the general staff) in the institutions of neighboring countries, Ar-
gentina and Brazil. This warrior nation fought Bolivia between 1932 and 1935 when its military forces tried to encroach on Paraguayan territory. The army of Paraguay pushed the Bolivians back but found themselves unable to exploit their advantage at the foot of the Andes because of a lack of logistic support and economic capability. The two exhausted countries lost one hundred twenty-five thousand men. A treaty of peace was signed after three years of negotiations. All the states of Latin America expressed their sympathy for the victim of aggression and the rumor spread that international petroleum interests had something to do with the causes of the conflict. However, the war had unforeseen social and political consequences on both sides. Associations of veterans and war heroes led to an active, if not dominant, role for the army in public life.
Paraguay, and some of its neighbors as well, had experienced a very unstable political life since independence: thirty-two presidents and one triumvirate had been in power between 1820 and 1932. It could even be said that in the twentieth century it had a one-year presidency. Two large parties traditionally fought for power: the Republican or Colorado party and the Democratic or Liberal party. The latter party, having removed the conservative Colorados in 1904, dominated political life until the war with Bolivia.
On 17 February 1936 Colonel Rafael Franco, supported by part of the army and by the powerful association of veterans of the Chaco War, overthrew the Liberal party government, sent the old political class into exile and, openly following European authoritarian models, issued a decree that forbade all party activity. That "February Government," which gave rise to the Febrerista party that announced the birth of a "new Paraguay," appeared like many of its counterparts at the time throughout the continent at the same time reformist and authoritarian, fascist and progressive. It called for expropriation of the land to improve the condition of the peasantry and for social legislation for the workers. But the Liberals who were plotting against it did not give it time. Franco, less fortunate than his contemporary of the same name in Spain, was overthrown in a new coup d'état in August 1937. General Estigarribia, who replaced him, had a constitution promulgated in 1940 that was authoritarian,
presidentialist, and vaguely corporatist, and granted the president discretionary power to declare martial law. That clause was to provide the basis of government for the country for twenty-five years after 1947. Some months after the adoption of the new constitution, the president and his wife were killed in an aviation accident, and his minister of war, General Morinigo, succeeded him following an election in 1943 in which he was the only candidate.
Morinigo and some members of the Colorado party, which had a certain following in the army, governed in a dictatorial way. In March 1947 the Febreristas, along with the Liberals and a group of young officers, organized an uprising, plunging the country into a six-month civil war. Despite the success of the insurgents and the division of the regular army, Morinigo and the Colorados won out, thanks to the assistance of the Argentine government and General Perón,[36] and perhaps some American support.[37] The victory of the existing government was followed by the "Colorado anarchy," during which, for a period of two years, a succession of presidents belonging to that party were overthrown by coups, one after another, while Paraguayans fled to Argentina by the thousands.[38]
By appealing to the old Colorado party, which had been kept from power so long, to provide a base for dictatorship, Morinigo produced the division, if not collapse, of the party. Each faction, too weak to govern by itself, sought the support of the military. This is how the commander in chief of the army, Alfredo Stroessner, in May 1954 took the party over for himself, had himself nominated as the only official candidate, was "elected" in July, and remained thereafter as "constitutional" president of Paraguay. Confirmed in the presidency by plebiscite in 1958, he has been reelected every five years with a clockwork regularity that is astonishing in that continent. Making use of some minor constitutional changes, on 12 February 1978 he accepted his sixth mandate for "order and peace" in Paraguay.[*]
Just as regularly every sixty days "the most anti-Communist government in the world," in its own words, extends
[*] Stroessner was elected to a seventh term in 1983. (Translator's note.)
martial law that is only lifted on election day. In those elections the real opposition parties are excluded but a "loyal opposition," promoted or in various ways tolerated by the dictatorship, is given an honorable place at least in the congress where it automatically has a third of the seats.[39] Respect for human rights is not a central concern of the artillery general who presides with a quasi-lifetime title over the destinies of the Guarany[*] nation. Agrarian leagues, the Communist party, dissident Colorados, and militant Febreristas are pitilessly beaten, imprisoned, or eliminated.
This blond son of a Bavarian German, who rules over a dark-skinned nation of Guaran Indians, leaves nothing to chance. While the dictator as well as his family have discretely acquired wealth, Paraguay has not been transformed into a Nicaraguan-style Stroessner fiefdom. Only the son-in-law, Dominguez Dibb, a prosperous businessman was discussed in the world press because of his rivalries with Somoza. The Paraguayan state has a tangible existence, and the army is not the personal property of the president. It is unlikely that a Stroessner dynasty will become established. The oldest son, an aviation officer, has no military base, and the marriage of the youngest son to the daughter of a powerful general, Andrés Rodriguez, did not produce the results that had been anticipated.[40]
This state army that enjoys an enviable historical legitimacy has sometimes posed problems for General Stroessner. In 1955 a group of young officers linked to a dissident sector of the Colorado party rose up against its leaders. The control of the army is one of the principal concerns of the dictatorship. Beginning in 1948, as a result of the civil war, all Liberal or Febrerista officers were eliminated from the ranks of the military. Henceforth it was necessary to be a Colorado to become an officer, and the cadets at the military school were chosen from families that were affiliated with the official party. To consolidate his power Stroessner was careful to remove from positions of command all the officers who possessed personal prestige, the heroes of the Chaco War among them, and he replaced them with men who owed much, if not everything, to him. But it is corruption and the possibility of enrichment offered to loyal officers that assure military tranquillity. Loyalty pays off, especially in a
"contraband state" such as Paraguay where to a greater or lesser degree everyone, from the tourists to international smugglers with official protection, engages in that commercial activity. The discovery of the Ricord affair and "the Paraguayan connection" in 1972 revealed to the world that very high levels in the country were involved in the drug traffic. It was claimed at that time that a former French pimp who had worked for the head of the "French Gestapo" on Rue Lauriston in Paris during the German occupation enjoyed the understanding of high military personages in the immediate entourage of General Stroessner, including General Patricio Coleman, who was responsible for the antiguerrilla struggle,[41] and even General Rodríguez, number two man in the regime and Stroessner's possible successor.[42] In addition an admiral is said to control arms smuggling and each chief of a military region on the frontier has his specialty depending on the internal or external demand and on the decisions of the "godfather"—flour, television sets, automobiles, household machines, stolen cattle, and so forth. The fact that the Paraguayan frontiers are highly permeable explains why its historical tolerance regarding such commerce has become an instrument of government. It is the "price paid for peace," Stroessner is supposed to have said cynically, that leads him to sacrifice the domestic economy to his political longevity.
Under a veneer of institutionalized democracy the Paraguayan dictatorship also practices a police violence that is the underside of the generalized corruption of the leading civilian and military sectors. The terror exercised by the pyragues, spies with "winged feet" in the Guarany[*] language, whose informers are everywhere (one out of four inhabitants, it is said)[43] reinforces the recruitment, not to say total control, that is offered to the government by the official party. The conservative but nonclerical Colorado party has been totally taken over by Stroessner, who has purged it of all potential rivals and independent personalities who might offer resistance to him. All the public servants in the state and local government are obliged to be members of the party. A party membership card is required in order to receive subsidies or salaries from the state. It is not surprising that the organization claims nine hundred
thousand members, which is the number of votes that it receives in elections in a country of three million inhabitants. The hereditary character of party affiliation gives still more force to party recruitment. The parties in Paraguay are above all social communities that are expected to provide service and protection. A survey in the 1960s showed that half of the members of the two large parties had relatives who already belonged to the same party.[44] Also, during the campaigns the police repression is carried out by Stroessner's party. Its representatives, the mbaretes or village caudillos,[45] are all-powerful and do not hesitate to carry out vengeance or to put pressure upon the peasants who are not Colorados. The Colorado exclusivism would appear to be totalitarian, no doubt, in a less rudimentary society. The party slogan "He who is not with us is against us" is indeed not much of an indication of political tolerance. "There should not be a single Colorado who is poor," preached the program of the official party in the 1950s, thus covering over its violence against political adversaries and a clientelist policy that had produced results. The local branches of the Colorado party are in fact very attentive to the needs of the membership that they provide with legal aid, assistance with funerals, and school supplies.[46]
The opportunism of Stroessner and his balancing act between Brazil and Argentina have facilitated his survival. His sensitivity to the pressures from Washington is only equalled by his desire to be well regarded by the metropolitan power in an area in which he is without rival—that of the anti-Communism that has always been used to legitimize his regime. This is why Stroessner sent a Paraguayan contingent to reestablish order in the Dominican Republic at the side of the marines in 1965, and why one of the most recent congresses of the World Anti-Communist League was held in Asunción.
As we see, this personal dictatorship is quite civilian in its essential base. While the army is not far from power, it does not govern, and Stroessner is not its spokesman. Rather he has succeeded in neutralizing it through various means, including corruption, that are legitimated and supported by a logic of party loyalty. The specific characteristic of this type of extreme "sultanate" or patrimonial regime—to use the terminology of
Max Weber—is that it corrupts representative institutions and the universalistic organs of the state.