Pre-colonial era The indigenous
Guaraní had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of the
Spanish. Western Paraguay, the
Gran Chaco, was inhabited by nomads of whom the
Guaycuru peoples were the most prominent. The Paraguay River was roughly the dividing line between the agricultural Guarani people to the east and the nomadic and seminomadic people to the west in the Gran Chaco. The
Mbayá nomads were known for their warrior traditions and were not fully
pacified until the late 19th century. These indigenous tribes belonged to five distinct language families, which were the bases of their major divisions. Differing language speaking groups were generally competitive over resources and territories. They were further divided into tribes by speaking languages in branches of these families. Today 17 separate
ethnolinguistic groups remain. The Spanish explorer
Juan de Salazar de Espinosa founded the settlement of
Asunción on 15 August 1537. The city eventually became the center of a
Spanish colonial province of Paraguay. An attempt to create an autonomous Christian Indian nation was undertaken by
Jesuit missions and settlements in this part of South America in the eighteenth century. They developed Jesuit
reductions to bring Guarani populations together at Spanish missions and protect them from virtual slavery by Spanish settlers and Portuguese slave raiders, the
bandeirantes, in addition to seeking their conversion to Christianity. Catholicism in Paraguay was influenced by the indigenous peoples: The
syncretic religion has absorbed native elements. The
reducciones flourished in eastern Paraguay for about 150 years, until the expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish Crown in 1767. The ruins of two 18th century
Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue have been designated as
World Heritage Sites by
UNESCO. He intended to create a
utopian society based on the
Genevan theorist
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's
Social Contract. Rodríguez de Francia was nicknamed
El Supremo. Rodríguez de Francia established new laws that greatly reduced the powers of the Catholic church (Catholicism was then an established state religion) and the cabinet, forbade colonial citizens from marrying one another and allowed them to marry only blacks,
mulattoes or natives, in order to break the power of colonial-era elites and to create a
mixed-race or mestizo society. He cut off relations between Paraguay and the rest of South America. Because of Francia's restrictions of freedom,
Fulgencio Yegros and several other Independence-era leaders in 1820 planned a ''coup d'état'' against Francia, who discovered the plot and had its leaders either executed or imprisoned for life.
Rule of the López family After Francia's death in 1840, Paraguay was ruled by various military officers under a new
junta militar, until
Carlos Antonio López (allegedly Rodríguez de Francia's nephew) came to power in 1841. López modernized Paraguay and opened it to foreign commerce. He signed a
nonaggression pact with Argentina and officially declared independence of Paraguay in 1842. After López's death in 1862, power was transferred to his eldest son,
Francisco Solano López. The regime of the López family was characterized by pervasive and rigid centralism in production and distribution. There was no distinction between the public and the private spheres, and the López family ruled the country as it would a large estate. The government exerted control on all exports. The export of
yerba mate and valuable wood products maintained the balance of trade between Paraguay and the outside world. The Paraguayan government was extremely protectionist, never accepted loans from abroad and levied high
tariffs against imported foreign products. This
protectionism made the society self-sufficient, and it also avoided the debt suffered by Argentina and Brazil. Slavery existed in Paraguay, although not in great numbers, until 1844, when it was legally abolished in the new constitution.
Francisco Solano López, the son of Carlos Antonio López, replaced his father as the President-Dictator in 1862, and generally continued the political policies of his father. Both wanted to give an international image of Paraguay as "democratic and republican", but in fact, the ruling family had almost total control of all public life in the country, including church and colleges. The government hired more than 200 foreign technicians, who installed
telegraph lines and railroads to aid the expanding steel, textile, paper and ink, naval construction, weapons and gunpowder industries. The
Ybycuí foundry, completed in 1850, manufactured cannons, mortars and bullets of all calibers. River warships were built in the shipyards of Asunción. Fortifications were built, especially along the
Apa River and in
Gran Chaco. Following the death of Carlos Antonio López, these projects continued under his son Francisco Solano. In terms of socio-economic development, the country was dubbed "the most advanced Republic in South America", notably by the British judge and politician
Sir Robert Phillimore. According to George Thompson, Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers in the Paraguayan Army prior to and during the war, López's government was comparatively a good one for Paraguay:
Paraguayan War (1864–1870) On 12 October 1864, despite Paraguayan ultimatums,
Brazil (allied with the Argentine Government under General
Bartolomé Mitre and the rebellious
Uruguayan colorados led by Gen.
Venancio Flores) invaded the Republic of Uruguay in order to overthrow the government of that time (which was under the rule of the
Blanco Party, an ally of López), thus starting the
Paraguayan War. The Paraguayans, led by the
Marshal of the Republic Francisco Solano López, retaliated by
attacking Mato Grosso on 15 December 1864 and later declared war against Argentina on 23 March 1865. The Blanco Government was toppled and replaced by a Colorado government under General Venancio Flores on 22 February 1865. Afterward, the
Argentine Republic, the
Empire of Brazil and the Republic of Uruguay signed the
Secret Treaty of the Triple Alliance against the Paraguayan Government on 1 May 1865. On 24 May 1866, the
Battle of Tuyutí led to the loss of 6,000 men when a Paraguayan attack was repelled by the Allies. It was marked as the bloodiest battle in South America during the war. The Paraguayans put up a ferocious resistance but ultimately lost in 1870 in the
Battle of Cerro Corá, where Marshal Solano López refused to surrender and died in action. The real causes of this war, which remains the bloodiest international conflict in the history of
The Americas, are still highly debatable. , May 1866 Paraguay lost 25–33% of its territory to Argentina and Brazil, paid an enormous war debt, and sold large amounts of national properties to stabilize its internal budget. The worst consequence of the war was the catastrophic loss of population. At least 50% of Paraguayans died during the conflict, numbers to which it took many decades for the country to return. Of the disaster suffered by the Paraguayans at the outcome of the war,
William D. Rubinstein wrote: "The normal estimate is that of a Paraguayan population of somewhere between 450,000 and 900,000, only 220,000 survived the war, of whom only 28,000 were adult males." During the pillaging of Asunción in 1869, the
Imperial Brazilian Army packed up and transported the Paraguayan National Archives to
Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's records from the war have remained classified. This has made Paraguayan history in the colonial and early national periods difficult to research and study.
20th century was the site of the
Chaco War (1932–35), in which Bolivia lost most of the disputed territory to Paraguay In 1904, the Liberal revolution against the rule of Colorados broke out. The Liberal rule started a period of great political instability. Between 1904 and 1954, Paraguay had thirty-one
presidents, most of whom were removed from office by force. Conflicts between the factions of the ruling Liberal party led to the
Paraguayan Civil War of 1922–1923. The unresolved border conflict with Bolivia over the Chaco region finally erupted in the early 1930s in the
Chaco War. After both sides suffered great losses, Paraguay defeated Bolivia and established its sovereignty over most of the disputed Chaco region. After the war, military officers used popular dissatisfaction with the Liberal politicians to seize the power for themselves. On 17 February 1936, the
February Revolution brought colonel
Rafael Franco to power. Between 1940 and 1948, the country was ruled by general
Higinio Morínigo. Dissatisfaction with his rule resulted in the
Paraguayan Civil War of 1947. In its aftermath
Alfredo Stroessner began involvement in a string of plots, which resulted in his military
coup d'état of 4 May 1954. In the aftermath of
World War II, Paraguay became a hideout for
Nazi fugitives accused of war crimes.
Stroessner era, 1954–1989 A series of unstable governments ensued until the establishment in 1954 of the regime of dictator
Alfredo Stroessner, who remained in office for more than three decades until 1989. Paraguay was modernized to some extent under Stroessner's regime, although his rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses. Stroessner and the
Colorado party ruled the country from 1954 to 1989. The dictator oversaw an era of economic expansion, but also had a poor human rights and environmental record (see "Political History"). Paraguay actively participated in
Operation Condor. The use of
political repression, threats and
death squads was a key factor in Stroessner's longevity as dictator of Paraguay. He maintained virtually unlimited power by giving a free hand to the military and to Minister of Interior
Edgar Ynsfrán, who began to harass, terrorize, and murder family members of the regime's opponents. Stroessner heavily relied on various
Colorado Party militias, subordinated to his control, to crush any dissent within the country. Furthermore, Stroessner's Paraguay became a haven for Nazi war criminals, including
Josef Mengele,. Given Stroessner's affinity for
Nazism and harboring of Nazi war criminals, foreign press often referred to his government as the "poor man's Nazi regime". The Stroessner regime's strong
anti-communist stance earned it the support of the United States, with which it enjoyed close military and economic ties. Paraguay was a leading participant in
Operation Condor, a campaign of
state terror and security operations officially implemented in 1975 which were jointly conducted by the military dictatorships of six South American countries (
Chile,
Argentina,
Bolivia, Paraguay,
Uruguay and
Brazil) with the support of the United States. Under Stroessner, egregious human rights violations were committed against the indigenous
Aché population of Paraguay's eastern districts, largely as the result of US and European corporations wanting access to the country's forests, mines, and grazing lands. The Aché resided on land that was coveted and had resisted relocation attempts by the Paraguayan army. The government retaliated with massacres and forced many Aché into slavery. In 1974, the UN accused Paraguay of
slavery and
genocide. Only a few hundred Aché remained alive by the late 1970s. The Stroessner regime financed
this genocide with US aid. The splits in the
Colorado Party in the 1980s, and the prevailing conditions – Stroessner's advanced age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and
international isolation – were catalysts for anti-regime demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections. The Stroessner regime relented in April 1987, and permitted Laíno to return to Asunción. Laíno took the lead in organizing demonstrations and reducing infighting among the opposition party. The opposition was unable to reach agreement on a common strategy regarding the elections, with some parties advocating abstention, and others calling for blank voting. The parties held numerous 'lightning demonstrations' (
mítines relámpagos), especially in rural areas. Such demonstrations were gathered and quickly disbanded before the arrival of the
police. In response to the upsurge in opposition activities, Stroessner condemned the Accord for advocating "sabotage of the general elections and disrespect of the law". He used national police and civilian
vigilantes of the
Colorado Party to break up demonstrations. A number of opposition leaders were imprisoned or otherwise harassed. , another key leader of the
PLRA, was imprisoned for four months in 1987 on charges of sedition. In early February 1988, police arrested 200 people attending a National Coordinating Committee meeting in
Coronel Oviedo. Laíno and several other opposition figures were arrested before dawn on the day of the election, 14 February, and held for twelve hours. The government declared Stroessner's reelection with 89% of the vote.
Stroessner's overthrow, post-1989 On 3 February 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup headed by General
Andrés Rodríguez. As president, Rodríguez instituted political, legal, and economic reforms and initiated a
rapprochement with the international community. Reflecting the deep hunger of the rural poor for land, hundreds immediately occupied thousands of acres of unused territories belonging to Stroessner and his associates; by mid-1990, 19,000 families occupied . At the time, 2.06 million people lived in rural areas, more than half of the 4.1 million total population, and most were landless. The June 1992 constitution established a democratic system of government and dramatically improved protection of fundamental human rights. In May 1993, Colorado Party candidate
Juan Carlos Wasmosy was elected as Paraguay's first civilian president in almost forty years, in what international observers deemed free and fair elections. With support from the United States, the Organization of American States, and other countries in the region, the Paraguayan people rejected an April 1996 attempt by then Army Chief General
Lino Oviedo to oust President Wasmosy. Oviedo was nominated as the Colorado candidate for president in the 1998 election. However, when the Supreme Court upheld in April his conviction on charges related to the 1996 coup attempt, he was not allowed to run and was detained in jail. His former running mate,
Raúl Cubas, became the Colorado Party's candidate, and was elected in May in elections deemed by international observers to be free and fair. One of Cubas' first acts after taking office in August was to commute Oviedo's sentence and release him. In December 1998, Paraguay's Supreme Court declared these actions unconstitutional. In this tense atmosphere, the murder of Vice President and long-time Oviedo rival
Luis María Argaña on 23 March 1999, led the Chamber of Deputies to impeach Cubas the next day. On 26 March, eight student anti-government demonstrators were murdered, widely believed to have been carried out by Oviedo supporters. This increased opposition to Cubas, who resigned on 28 March. Senate President
Luis González Macchi, a Cubas opponent, was peacefully sworn in as president the same day. In 2003,
Nicanor Duarte was elected as president.
Election of Fernando Lugo For the 2008 general elections, the Colorado Party was favored in polls. Their candidate was Minister of Education
Blanca Ovelar, the first woman to be nominated as a candidate for a major party in Paraguayan history. After sixty years of Colorado rule, voters chose
Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic Bishop and not a professional politician in civil government, and a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, Paraguay's largest opposition party. Lugo was an adherent of
liberation theology. Lugo achieved a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election, defeating the ruling party candidate, and ending 61 years of conservative rule. Lugo won with nearly 41% of the vote, compared to almost 31% for Blanca Ovelar of the Colorado party. Outgoing President
Nicanor Duarte Frutos hailed the moment as the first time in the history of the nation that a government had transferred power to opposition forces in a constitutional and peaceful fashion. Lugo was sworn in on 15 August 2008. The Lugo administration set its two major priorities as the reduction of corruption and economic inequality. , 15 August 2013 Political instability following Lugo's election and disputes within his cabinet encouraged some renewal of popular support for the Colorado Party. Reports suggested that the businessman
Horacio Cartes became the new political figure amid disputes. Despite the US
Drug Enforcement Administration's strong accusations against Cartes related to
drug trafficking, he continued to amass followers in the political arena. On 14 January 2011, the Colorado Party convention nominated Horacio Cartes as the presidential candidate for the party. However, the party's constitution did not allow it. On 21 June 2012,
impeachment proceedings against President Lugo began in the country's lower house, which was controlled by his opponents. Lugo was given less than twenty-four hours to prepare for the proceedings and only two hours in which to mount a defense. Impeachment was quickly approved and the resulting trial in Paraguay's Senate, also controlled by the opposition, ended with the removal of Lugo from office and Vice President Federico Franco assuming the duties of president. Lugo's rivals blamed him for the deaths of 17 people – eight police officers and nine farmers – in armed clashes after police were ambushed by armed peasants when enforcing an eviction order against rural trespassers. On 14 May 2011, Paraguay celebrated its
bicentenary on the 200th anniversary of independence from the Spanish Empire as a sovereign state. Lugo's supporters gathered outside Congress to protest the decision as a "politically motivated coup d'état". However, the Organization of American States, which sent a mission to Paraguay to gather information, concluded that the impeachment process was not a coup d'état, as it had been carried out in accordance with the
Constitution of Paraguay.
Present day From August 2013 to 15 August 2018, the
President of Paraguay was
Horacio Cartes. From 2018 until 2023, the
President of Paraguay has been
Mario Abdo Benítez. They are both from the conservative
Colorado Party. President Mario Abdo enjoyed a close relationship with the Brazilian far-right president (in power 2019–2022),
Jair Bolsonaro. In February 2019, President Mario Abdo Benitez was at Bolsonaro's side when Bolsonaro praised Paraguayan military dictator Alfredo Stroessner, calling him "a man of vision". In 2021, Paraguay became the first country in South America to produce electric energy in its
100% renewable energy supply. In May 2023,
Santiago Peña of the long-ruling Colorado Party, won the presidential
election to succeed Mario Abdo as the next
President of Paraguay. On 15 August 2023, Santiago Peña was sworn in as Paraguay's new president. ==Geography==