Ruminations of an Expatriate

Exit polling is indicating an end to the 61 year rule of the Colorado party in Paraguay, the party of the 35 years of the ruthless dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, which ended in 1989 when he was dethroned by his own party and the Paraguayan military. The country had its first democratic election in 1993.

The projected winner is former Catholic Priest Fernando Lugo who has promised a government that will aid the poor and indigenous population of the country, Latin America’s second poorest nation ,with over 40% of its population living in poverty. Lugo has forged a coalition of labor unions, indigenous Paraguayans, and poor framers under the banner of the Patriotic Alliance for Change.

Also up for election are the 45-member Senate and 80-member lower House of Deputies, all for five-year terms. And 17 governors, 18 representatives to the Mercosur trade bloc, and local officials.

So it looks as though Paraguay is set to join Brazil; Argentina; Uruguay; Bolivia; Ecuador; Venezuela; Nicaragua; and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Chile in rejecting the “neo-liberal” policies advocated by the USA government, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Policies which counsel corporate ownership of natural resources and enterprises which provide essential public services.

UPDATE:  Reuters reports that with 72 percent of the polling stations reporting Lugo has a 9.5 percentage point lead over the Colorado party candidate.

The International Herald Tribune reports on a Columbia/Venezuela gas pipeline agreement and Columbia’s President Uribe’s desire to join the Bank of the South, which “Chavez has pushed ….. as a counterweight to U.S. influence, especially the U.S.-dominated World Bank, and as a path to economic independence for the region.”

Columbia, remember, receives more USA military aid than any other Latin American nation, ostensibly as part of the drug war, though USA aid is also used in suppressing the long running insurgencies there. Mercenaries hired by Columbian oligarchs, and tied to close Uribe allies, have killed thousands of Columbian peasants, supposedly supportive of the various insurgent groups.

Perhaps Uribe has noticed that Argentina, Venezuela, and increasing numbers of other Latin American nations are doing much better economically since rejecting the “neo-liberal” approach encouraged by the USA and other Western nations.

Yet another indication of the waning of the USA empire.