Paraguay

Colonization and War

Spanish colonization of the country in 1524, together with what Enrique Dussel calls the “invention of the Americas,” has obscured the discussion about the existence of pre-existing forms of sociability and social networks. However, although the current territory of Paraguay saw no civilizations as important as the Aztec or the Maya during the pre-Columbian period and was practically not penetrated by the Incas, Guaraní tribes formed robust social networks relating to the tevy (extensive families), which, in turn, were grouped in tekoas (villages) around which all political, economic, cultural, and social life revolved. These kinship or marriage networks were responsible, among other things, for the organization of farming; the diffusion of the indigenous language (today official in Paraguay and also in Bolivia); and the preparation of ceremonies, parties, hunting, and war strategies.

The arrival of the Spanish and the territorialization of the Jesuit missions precipitated a dismantling of previous social networks, converting the recently created Asunción (the current capital) into an important center of colonization. This generated various internal and external confrontations, such as the revolt of the comuneros against the colony during the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in the 18th century, and various conflicts and frontier wars during the 19th century, in the context of the postindependence remapping of the region. The most important of these was the War of the Triple Alliance, which not only ended a brief period of national modernization under the government of President Carlos Antonio Lopez but also led to the loss of more than half of the Paraguayan population when the country lost part of its territory to Brazil and Argentina. Following independence, the most important social networks were linked to the internationalization of trade and the armaments industry; education; communication (the installation of the first printing presses and the creation of the first newspapers, which revitalized the country's social networks); and, above all, to the postwar need for basic survival in the face of illness and poverty.

Paraguay's history of war did not end there; the country subsequently became embroiled, with its enemy Bolivia, in the most prolonged and bloody war of the 20th century in Latin America: the Chaco War (1932–35). At stake was the control of the Paraguay River, which was of great strategic importance. Studies by historian Gabriela Dalla Corte reveal that, during the period prior to this war, social networks constructed in Argentina articulated with one of the most important landowners of the Chaco in the process of privatization and concentration of land in the region. Although the Bolivian advance was successfully contained, the subsequent years in Paraguay saw growing social unrest, culminating in the Civil War of 1947, which pitted Liberals against the military supported by the Republican Colorado Party, and led to the installing of the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner in 1954. His prolonged dictatorship of almost 35 years engendered important military social networks (Operation Condor being the prime example) and strengthened some elite social networks of benefits and privileges for a minority of the population, which were sustained by clientelistic practices, co-option, and corrupt institutions.

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