The challenges ahead
Fernando
Lugo is Paraguay’s new president
By
Eduardo Dimas Read Spanish Version
"The
fastest way to make money in Paraguay is to go into politics."
— Fernando
Lugo
Paraguay
is one of those countries that generate little news; a country that,
in appearance at least, lacks importance. It has little more than 6.5
million inhabitants. It is rich in hydrocarbons and other minerals,
has large water resources and is a net exporter of energy. It is said
that the country’s principal source of income is smuggling.
Paraguay’s
agriculture is basically devoted to the export of agricultural
products. Two-point-five percent of the population owns 70 percent of
the land. Three hundred thousand peasants have no land of their own.
More than 50 percent of all Paraguayans live in poverty and 35
percent are paupers. Next to Bolivia, Paraguay is one of the poorest
and most-exploited nations in the region.
The
winner in last Sunday’s election was former Catholic bishop Fernando
Lugo, candidate of the Patriotic Alliance for Change, a coalition of
nine political parties and the Tekojojá (Shared Life)
Movement. Vice President-elect Federico Franco is a member of the
Authentic Liberal Radical Party, a group with a long political life
that represents sectors of the bourgeoisie.
Lugo
obtained little more than 40 percent of the vote. His closest rival,
Blanca Ovelar, of the Colorado Party (the National Republican
Alliance), earned 30 percent, while former Gen. Lino Oviedo got 22
percent. Both challengers acknowledged Lugo’s triumph on Sunday,
April 20, the day of the election.
It
now remains to be seen how the new government will shape up and what
policies the President-elect will institute to fulfill his many
campaign promises, considering the condition in which the Colorado
Party left Paraguay after 61 years in power. During that time, party
and government were practically a single entity, to such an extent
that some people used to say that the day the Colorado Party ceased
to govern, the party would disappear.
Maybe
now they have a chance to find out. Let us remember that the Colorado
Party was the party of dictator Alfredo Stroessner, one of the
organizers of the Condor Plan (in cahoots with the dictatorships of
Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, with the blessing of the White House),
which represented death, torture and exile for tens of thousands of
Latin Americans.
During
the campaign, Lugo focused on pointing out the ills Paraguay suffers.
The statement at the start of this article was made by Lugo during an
interview. Also, on several occasions, he said that his principal
adversaries were corruption, poverty and ignorance. None of those
three ills is easy to eradicate.
Lugo’s
program for governance has several aspects that are significant,
because they are intended to break the current scheme of Paraguayan
society. Lugo has issued a call for a head-on struggle against
administrative corruption, which in his country is almost
institutional. Paraguay is considered to be one of the most corrupt
countries in Latin America.
Lugo
hopes to carry out an agrarian reform that will give land to the
peasants, something that is bound to provoke a confrontation with the
national oligarchy, a powerful ally of the food corporations owned by
the United States. Similarly, he has stated his purpose to improve
the conditions of life, health and education of the poorest sectors
of the country.
He
also intends to clean up the Judiciary, which is stained by
corruption. According to knowledgeable people, 90 percent of all
trials are decided on the basis of the bribes paid to the judges, no
matter who the guilty party is.
On
the subject of foreign policy, Lugo posits a closer rapprochement to
the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and to the progressive
governments in Latin America. Repeatedly, he has stated that he will
not allow foreign interference in the affairs of Paraguay.
Lugo,
whose political formation comes from liberation theology, seems to be
ideologically closer to Presidents Lula of Brazil and Michelle
Bachelet of Chile than to the leftist and revolutionary presidents in
the region.
One
of his immediate economic priorities will be to discuss with the
governments of Brazil and Argentina a substantial increase in the
payment for the energy generated by the Itaipú and Yaciretá
power plants. The new president hopes that such payments will bring
$1.8 billion a year to the Paraguayan state.
These
are some of his priorities. It is not surprising that he reached the
presidency as a symbol of hope for the poorest Paraguayans. However,
we mustn’t forget that leaders must surround themselves with
ministers and subalterns to carry out their tasks.
The
coalition that carried Lugo to the presidency, the Patriotic Alliance
for Change, is extremely heterogeneous and it is difficult to think
that it will provide unanimous support for his policy of government.
There are many and different interests within the group. Also, the
Alliance does not have a majority in the Legislature, which will
force it to negotiate with the opposition parties.
To
boot, Lugo inherits a government apparatus built in accordance with
the interests of the Colorado Party, which will do all it can to
boycott his plans, the same as has happened to other progressive
governments in the region.
Fernando
Lugo’s triumph could strengthen the process of change in Latin
America. He is a man with profoundly religious ideas, a politically
clean leader who appears to be intent on improving the living
conditions of Paraguayans.
He
will need much support to carry out his mission. Let us hope that the
Paraguayan people and the country’s progressive and revolutionary
organizations will side with him, not like in other countries where
personal aspirations and interests have been placed above the
nation’s aspirations. Time will tell.
