Paraguay: Coup at heart of struggle over Latin America
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GREEN LEFT WEEKLY
Paraguay: Coup at heart of struggle over Latin America
Sunday, July 15, 2012
By Federico Fuentes
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51635
The June 22 coup carried out against Paraguayan President Fernando
Lugo was an important blow to progressive movements across Latin
America.
The struggle against the coup is far from over, but learning the
lessons of the coup are important. This requires placing the coup in
the context of the turbulent process of change occurring in Latin
America
Latin America is in a period of transition. It is characterised, on
the one hand, by the decline of United States influence. This is
particularly the case with the unravelling of the neoliberal model
implanted that was more firmly implanted more firmly in Latin America
in the 1980s and 1990s than in any other region of the South.
On the other hand, left and progressive forces have made significant
advances, including winning government in some cases.
This has been accompanied by a growing process of political and
economic integration of the region.
Rise of the new left
A key factor is the rise of radical governments in Venezuela, Bolivia
and Ecuador. With the backing of mass movements, these governments
have raised the banner of "21st-century socialism".
Today, these forces have united in the anti-imperialist Bolivarian
Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA).
All of these processes remain in flux and the fate of each is linked
to the others. The only certainty is that events in Paraguay have
dramatically raised the level of turbulence in the region.
Lugo's 2008 election in Paraguay did not represent the rise of a
socialist to power. But it did mark Paraguay as the seventh country to
join what many commentators have dubbed the "pink tide" sweeping
through South America.
Starting with Hugo Chavez's election in Venezuela in 1998, a variety
of radical and moderate left candidates have also been elected in
Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay.
The politics of these "pink tide" governments have ranged from radical
anti-imperialism to moderate reformism. But each, in their own way,
reflected the growing popular mood against US-imposed neoliberalism,
and for greater national sovereignty and regional integration.
They also represented, at least, a partial fracture in political
systems that benefited US corporate interests based on a extremely
limited electoral democracy where the power of the ruling elite was
never in question.
The significance of Lugo, a pro-poor former priest, was not his
radical discourse or the far-reaching nature of the reforms that were
demanded of his administration. Neither factors featured in his
election campaign.
It lay in the fact that his election marked the end of 130 years of
uninterrupted control of the presidency by direct representatives of
Paraguay's oligarchy.
It is through this oligarchy, maintained in power through a reign of
terror, that foreign imperialist powers have maintained their
domination over Paraguay.
Independent path
The last time Paraguay was not directly ruled by foreign powers and
their local allies was about 200 years ago, shortly after Paraguay
gained independence from Spain in 1811.
For the next few decades, Paraguay underwent arguably the most
profound democratic revolution of any Latin American country during
this post-independence period.
Unlike elsewhere in the region, where local oligarchies ensured formal
political independence was accompanied by continued foreign
subjugation, Paraguay's government withdrew from global markets and
pursued a policy of internal development.
The government's program included state control over land, protection
of newly developed industries, and using the nation's wealth to fund
education and other social programs.
By the 1860s, Paraguay was the most developed economy in the region.
It could boast the lowest poverty and highest education levels of any
neighbouring country.
But the price inflicted on Paraguay for choosing this path was devastating.
Imperialist attacks
In 1864, the local oligarchies in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay,
backed by Britain, unleashed the War of the Triple Alliance. It is
estimated that 80-90% of the male population was exterminated in the
war.
Through a campaign of terror, the triple alliance installed a pliant
local oligarchy in power. This allowed Paraguay to re-enter the global
market, subjugated to imperialist interests.
For the next 130 years, representatives of the large landowning
oligarchy maintained control over the Paraguayan state. In return for
ruling in the interests of foreign powers, the oligarchs were given
free reign to use the state to enrich themselves and repress dissent.
The most infamous phase was the 35-years-long military dictatorship
under Alfredo Stroessner, which began in 1954.
Paraguay's shift from military dictatorship to formal democracy in
1989 did not threaten the ruling elites. Stroessner's Colorado Party
held onto power until Lugo's election in 2008.
Rather, the transition to formal democracy was driven by the negative
impact on US neoliberal plans of holding on to one of Latin America's
longest surviving, and last remaining, dictators.
Neoliberalism
In Paraguay, the rise of neoliberal policies had four important consequences.
The first was the violent uprooting of Paraguay's mostly rural
population to make way for large multinational corporations, who
sought to turn the country into one big soy plantation.
The second was Paraguay's conversion into an energy exporter through
the creation of the two largest hydroelectric dams in the world. Most
of the electricity supplies Argentine and Brazilian-based industries.
The third impact of neoliberalism was the creation of a tiny sector of
super-exploitative maquiladoras (free trade manufacturing zones).
The fourth structural change was the emergence of large belts of
impoverished urban communities. It was made up of those pushed off
their land, whose numbers greatly surpassed that of the tiny amount of
jobs offered in the maquiladoras.
Many chose to emigrate and send back remittances, which became the
main source of income for 10-15% of Paraguayan families.
It was precisely from these sectors poor farmers and impoverished
urban sectors that opposition to neoliberalism and corruption emerged.
However, Paraguay never experienced the same level of class struggle
as many other South American countries, where social movements
succeeded in overthrowing presidents.
Meanwhile, left-wing parties remained fragmented and largely irrelevant.
Within this vacuum emerged Lugo, a moderately progressive priest who
maintained links with campesino (peasant) groups.
As an outsider candidate for the 2008 elections, Lugo presented these
sectors with an opportunity to break the decades' long rule of the
Colorado Party.
However, to win, Lugo had to rely on an alliance with the other main
traditional party, the Liberals.
In return for supporting Lugo, the Liberals were given the right to
chose his vice-presidential candidate: Francisco Franco, the man who
now been installed as president in the coup.
The fragmentation of left forces, which contesting the election with
11 separate lists, and the important clientalist networks that the
Liberals had built up, ensured their candidates made up the
overwhelming bulk of Lugo's parliamentary bench.
The limitations this imposed were immediately obvious after his
victory. The Liberals spearheaded by Franco moving to oppose any
progressive policy pursued by Lugo.
Ultimately, their votes were crucial in Lugo's final downfall.
Re-establishing complete control
By removing Lugo, Paraguay's oligarchy has re-established complete
control over all branches of the Paraguayan state. It has set about
reversing the small gains made under Lugo.
Within a week of Lugo falling, US oil company Crescent Global Oil —
whose oil exploration contract had been terminated by the Lugo
government — had met with Franco. After the meeting, it announced
plans to invest US$10 million within 60 days to begin oil exploration
in the Chaco region.
Another transnational that has benefited from the illegitimate coup is
Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA), a Canadian-based division of the
British-Australian mining company, Rio Tinto.
Several Liberal ministers in Lugo's cabinet had been supportive of
RTA's bid to establish an aluminium plant in Paraguay in return for
receiving cheap electricity from Paraguay's huge hydroelectric dams
(the main cost in producing aluminium).
The deal, however, was opposed by Lugo and his vice-minister for mines
and energy.
With both gone, and an RTA lobbyist appointed vice-minister of
industry, the Franco government is moving full steam ahead to sign an
agreement that would provide RTA with electricity at a subsidised
rate.
Transnational soy companies will also benefit via the approval of
certain transgenic products which had been blocked by members of
Lugo's government.
It is true that none of these moves amounted to a radical
transformation of Paraguay's economy. In many cases, business
continued as usual for foreign and local capitalist interests.
But Lugo's election was much less a result of the rise of a powerful
left as it was a sign of the beginning of the demise of the political
status quo that for so long had benefitted US imperialism and its
local allies. It was also a further impetus to the broader process of
regional integration in South America.
It reflected the start of a process of transition in Paraguay, one
which would inevitably be turbulent given the interests affected and
whose ultimately fate would be determined by class struggle.
Lugo constantly vacillated and sought to conciliate with the old
elites. But the left in his government were able to use the spaces won
in the state to carry out progressive policies and bring the left out
of obscurity.
From its position in the state, the left was responsible for placing
hurdles in the path of multinationals. They spearheaded other popular
measures, such as the introduction of a free public health system, the
renegotiation of a better deal for Paraguay regarding revenue received
by the state for the two hydroelectric dams and a variety of social
programs.
Although the Lugo government did not initiate a radical agrarian
reform program, the simple fact it carried out a census of land
ownership exposed the extreme inequality in Paraguay. It was a move
tantamount to "communism" for large-landowners accustomed to
protecting their land at gunpoint.
For Paraguay's poor, it represented the possibility that someone other
than the local oligarchy could run the country — and push their
interests.
All these elements contributed to converting Paraguay's marginalised
left into a real force in politics.
To ignore this and only focus on Lugo's failures is to miss the point.
Today, the left and Paraguay's poor majority are in a stronger
position than before Lugo's election, in part due to their presence in
the state.
Unfortunately, the lack of a mass political force uniting the left
inside and outside the state, capable of stopping the coup, has led to
a new turning point in the turbulent transition process in Paraguay
and Latin America as whole.
A new turning point
The first important feature of this new period in Paraguay is the
emergence of the Front for the Defence of Democracy, a broad coalition
of left parties and social movements that is fighting the illegitimate
government in the streets.
Whether they will be able to reverse the coup remains to be seen.
Many on the left see the possibility of creating a new political force
out of this movement that can fight in the streets and at the next
elections. However, this time the fight could be with a clear
political program, and with the benefits of learning from Lugo's
errors.
Ultimately though, the future course of this development will be
determined by the Paraguayan masses. Solidarity activists should
follow these developments closely, learning from the unfolding process
and offering any solidarity we can.
The main solidarity we can offer though is to alert the world to
another, extremely dangerous development in Latin America after the
successful 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras which should be of grave
concern to all.
[Read more articles by Federico Fuentes. With Michael Fox and Roger
Burbach, Fuentes is the co-author of the forthcoming book Latin
America Turbulent Transitions: The Future of Twenty-First Century
Socialism. It will be released in January next year by Zed Books. He
also co-authored with Marta Harnecker a book in Spanish on the
Paraguayan Left, focusing on the Movement Towards Socialism Party
(P-MAS).]
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