a nation left behind: understanding the reasons behind paraguay’s current political, economic, and social status through my personal experiences

by becca benham global issues 2013

1 Abstract

For my final project, I am investigating the current economic, political, and social issues in Paraguay, and speculating whether the roles of remittances, foreign aid, and other forms of dependence may account in part for Paraguay’s stagnant economy. When I was living in Paraguay as a volunteer with Amigos, I dealt with many discomforting and difficult situations. Although I often didn’t comprehend what I saw and at times even felt as if I were not accomplishing anything, writing this paper has allowed me to both reflect and appreciate my experience more fully. With personal perspective and academic research, I feel as if I have grown more as an activist and an independent thinker.

2

As I approached my future home for the next five and a half weeks, I dropped my two large duffle bags onto the dusty, rust-colored ground and took in my surroundings.

My house, if I could call it that, was comprised of two bedrooms, with a large open space cut out in the center. I walked beyond the front area of the house and investigated further.

In the back, there was a bathroom with a flushing toilet and shower head, and a partially enclosed space designated as the cocina; the dead giveaway was a large pile of twigs sectioned off in the corner, with a poorly constructed fogón, or stove, in the center of the room.

I retreated back to the front of the house to retrieve my bags. Out of nowhere, a small, young girl appeared in front of me and gave me the once-over.

“What do you have in there?” she asked me in rapid Spanish, looking with hungry eyes at my duffle bags.

I looked at her in confusion. This was my first interaction with my host sister, and all she was concerned about was what were in my bags?

“Just some of my personal belongings,” I said cautiously. My sister took a duffle bag from me and led me into one of the bedrooms. Two cots were set up on either side of the room, and a few ripped out images from magazines were poorly tacked onto the wall.

There was no distinction between the ground outside and the bedroom floor; it was all made up of dirt.

I slowly dropped by possessions onto the ground and began to unzip my bags.

The little girl documented my every move.

“Did you bring anything for the campamentos?” she asked me. Campamentos are the youth camps that all AMIGOS volunteers are required to conduct throughout their time in-country, in which the volunteers introduce fun and educational activities to the local schoolchildren five days a week. One of the very few things I knew about my host family before I met them was that they had been hosts to several other

AMIGOS volunteers in the past, so they were familiar with the different types of activities that volunteers carry out while in-community.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” I responded, reaching into my backpack for the shiny new packets of markers, crayons, colored paper, and other materials that the AMIGOS organization had given me to use. She snatched one of the marker packets from me and met my gaze.

“You will give this to me when you leave, yes?” she said.

It wasn’t really a question; it was worded more as a demand. I was again taken aback. I didn’t know what to say to her. I did not want to come off as mean and make her angry since we were going to be living with each other for the six weeks, but I also knew that I had no intention of giving her these things. My partner and I had already discussed that we were going to donate all of the extra materials to the local school at the end of the trip, so that all of the schoolchildren would have the opportunity to use these art supplies that many were unable to afford.

I reached for the markers in her hands and quickly buried them away into my backpack.

“We will see,” was all I could think of to say in return.

This interaction with my host sister was one of many moments that I experienced while living and working in San Pedro, Paraguay during the summer of 2012. There was a clear tension between my presence as both a volunteer and guest and my relationship with community members, since it was obvious that I was from a wealthier background and there to contribute to the community. Nonetheless, I seized the opportunity to integrate into their culture as best I could to try and to understand their lives with a clear lens. My numerous observations of the community’s difficult circumstances and the uncomfortable exchanges I had throughout my stay sparked my curiosity about the economic story of Paraguay. I wanted to know why thousands of Paraguayans were trapped in poverty, and why many Paraguayans were so frightened of change, even if it meant for the better. The only way I could try and fathom all of these complicated questions was to dig deeper into both the nation’s political and economic history, as well as into myself.

Paraguay’s turbulent governmental history has paved the way for its lack of international recognition and success today. Dating back to its independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay has struggled to uphold a proper democracy; this political struggle has both led to a succession of dictatorships, political corruption and a lack of involvement from Paraguayan citizens. Between 1904 and 1954 alone, Paraguay had a total of thirty- one presidents1. One of the most prominent political leaders in Paraguay was president

Alfredo Stroessner, who was in power from 1954-19892. The leader of the Colorado

Party, the most powerful political party in Paraguay, rigged his own elections to keep himself in office for thirty-five years. He dedicated most of his time and energy to strengthening the Paraguayan military and building relationships with other neighboring dictators, such as Augusto Pinochet of Chile, while he ignored the extreme poverty that

1 Times, Alan Riding, Special To The New York. "Paraguay Coup: Battle for Succession." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 1989. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. 2 "Central Intelligence Agency." CIA World Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. affected almost half of the Paraguayan population3; one of Stroessner’s most famous political ventures was his contribution to Operation Condor, which sought to eliminate political competitors through assassinations and political repression4. In 1989, Stroessner was finally overthrown in a coup d’état by military general Andrés Rodrigues5.

Following Stroessner’s reign, the Paraguayan constitution was rewritten in 1992 for the sixth time in order to refocus the country’s attention on its citizens and to protect

Paraguay from similar dictatorships. One of the key changes to the constitution was its declaration of human rights, which has inspired the promotion of important issues such as women’s equality for the past two decades6. The other noteworthy alteration of the constitution was the new limit of future presidents’ time in office to five years7. Despite this important change to the constitution, however, Paraguay to this day is still a product of political corruption.

Even before I touched down onParaguayan soil, I experienced a taste of its political turbulence. Prior to my scheduled departure, Paraguay’s former president

Fernando Lugo was overthrown in what was believed to be another coup d’etat8. The

AMIGOS organization was slightly hesitant since there had been some shootings in

Asunción, Paraguay’s capital, but we were finally given the green light. I had been hoping to bring up the prevalent issue with my host family at some point, but I couldn’t seem to find the right time. Finally, a week into my home-stay, I seized the opportunity. I peaked outside of my room through the cracks in my door and saw my host mother

3 "General Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, Dictator of Paraguay." The Economist. N.p., 24 Aug. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. 4 "Operation Condor Documents." Operation Condor Documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. 5 Schemo, Diana J. "Stroessner, Paraguay’s Enduring Dictator, Dies." The New York Times. N.p., 16 Aug. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. 6 Paraguay. United Nations. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. N.p.: n.p., 2011. Print. 7 "Paraguay: Constitucion De 1992." Paraguay: Constitucion De 1992. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. 8 "Paraguay President Fernando Lugo Impeached by Congress." BBC News. BBC, 23 June 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. preparing dinner with her neighbor. I stepped out of my bedroom and plopped into one of the folding chairs next to them, hoping to make a connection with my new family.

“Is there anything that I can do to help?” I asked.

I saw her shoot a glance at her friend. For some reason, they were all very opposed to me helping them out in the kitchen. But, I was determined to show them that I was in fact very capable of positively contributing to the cooking.

“Well... you could help us slice these onions,” she said, handing me an extra cuchillo. I couldn’t help but notice that my knife was slightly duller than the ones that they were using.

I began to dice the onions, and my mother and her friend continued to talk with each other in hushed Guaraní. Next to taking ice cold showers every day, the language barrier was one of the most frustrating aspects of my trip. In rural Paraguay, the most widely spoken language is the indigenous language Guaraní, which has very little resemblance to Spanish. I was done being excluded from the conversation all of the time;

I set down the knife and onions and looked up at the two women.

“What did you guys think of the issue with Fernando Lugo?” I blurted out in an attempt to include myself in their conversation.

They both looked at me in confusion.

“You know, the president who was just forced out of office a few weeks ago?” I said slowly.

“Oh, yes... that,” my mother casually responded, as she turned her attention back to chopping up the mandioca.

“Well, were you angry about it? Are you happy he is out of office?” I queried. “Mira, mi reina,” said my mother. “Whatever politics happen in Asunción do not affect us in any way. It doesn’t matter whether Lugo is in office or any other politician.

Nothing changes for our people.” She began speaking in rapid Guaraní again to her friend; I signaled that as the end of our conversation. I set my knife down and retrieved back to my room, feeling utterly hopeless for myself and for my family.

It is clear that the relationship between politics and economics is tightly intertwined. One could almost say that a nation’s political stability parallels its economic status. With that said, Paraguay has historically struggled to thrive economically, just as its struggled to maintain its political security. The current gross domestic product is $41.1 billion dollars, which is the one hundred and first highest GDP in the world. Agriculture makes up for 21% of the GDP, with industry at 18.3% and services at 60.7%9.

Economic opportunities are sparse in Paraguay; as a result, the nation is stricken with poverty. In 2012, the reported percentage of people living below the poverty line was a shocking 60%, and only 35% of the rural population was reported to have access to drinking water. In terms of education, only 10.1% of the population is in tertiary enrollment, and the average school life expectancy is approximately 10 years10.

Because of this ongoing struggle to make a living as a result of a lack of education, it is common for natives to seek success elsewhere and emigrate to neighboring countries such as Brazil and Argentina. In addition, remittances are a large component of Paraguayan culture. In 2006 alone, Paraguay received $650 million dollars in remittances, which accounted for 7.2% of the country’s GDP11. 22% of these

9 Turner, Barry. The Statesman's Yearbook 2013: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. 10 "Education in Paraguay - Data for 2006." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. 11 "Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean." Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. remittances comes from Latin America, and 10% of the Paraguayan adult population receives remittances approximately eleven times a year.

Almost all of the families within my community made their living by harvesting and selling foods from their private chakras, or fields. A few families sold basic utensils and packaged foods from little stores that they had built into their homes, but it really didn’t get any more diverse than that. My family’s way of getting money, however, was a bit more obscure; I couldn’t figure out how they managed to make ends meet. Their father, the stereotypical breadwinner in Paraguay, had died many years ago along with their brother, and I never saw any of my family members selling their personal crops or other materials to the outside community. It all started to come together one night, however, when I was eating dinner with my family and my host mother walked into the room on her cellular. Without any hesitation, she shoved the phone into my hand.

“Talk to my son,” she said. All four of my sisters waited with smiles on their faces, just waiting for me to make a fool of myself on the phone with my broken Spanish.

“¿Hola?” I asked frightfully.

“Hola, Revecca!” a warm male voice answered on the other end of the phone.

“How have my sisters been treating you?” he asked in a friendly tone. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this conversation wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. We continued to chat for a few more minutes, and when we were done, I proudly handed the phone back to my mother. She smiled at me approvingly, and retreated back to her room to converse more with her son.

“I didn’t know you had another brother,” I said to my sisters. My sister Fatima took a bite of mandioca. “He’s living in Uruguay right now.

Working,” she said. “We haven’t seen him in a while.”

“For how long?” I asked.

“Two years,” my other sister responded nonchalantly. “But he will return soon.”

I looked down at my plate and shoved a piece of tortilla into my mouth. I wasn’t too sure about that statement. Transition needed

The effectiveness of foreign aid has been an ongoing discussion for decades.

Writer Carol Lancaster of the International Journal divides critics of foreign aid into two categories: “…resource fundamentalists[,] who believe that more aid will spur development, and the market fundamentalists[,] who are skeptical that foreign aid has yet, or can in the future be expected, to solve the development problem…[market fundamentalists believe that aid is] an obstacle to economic progress insofar as it meddles in the functioning of markets.”12 Market fundamentalists’ beliefs parallel the concept of the “Dependency Theory”, an idea that emerged during the 1960’s in Latin America. This theory is based on the notion that Latin American countries have become “slaves” to developed nations such as Europe and the United States, providing these “imperial powers with the raw materials required for an expanding industrial base.” The only way that these poor countries can break themselves out of this cycle is “by severing its ties to the core and promoting self-sustaining economic growth.”13

As time went on during my trip, I felt myself morphing into somewhat of a market fundamentalist. From the initial interaction with my younger host sister and knowledge of my family’s source of income to my community service projects that

12 Lancaster, Carol. "Sixty Years of Foreign Aid: What Have We Learned?" International Journal (2009): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. 13 Kinsbruner, Jay, and Erick Detlef. Langer. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Detroit: Gale, 2008. barely garnered any enthusiasm, I started to call into question what I was exactly doing in

Paraguay. Was I even making a difference? Or was I in fact hindering the Paraguayans from potential development? Even though I knew that my AMIGOS partner and I were doing what we were supposed to do, such as building new fogónes for extremely needy families and carrying out our daily campamentos duties, we were definitely not fulfilling the AMIGOS mission of facilitating “collaborative community development.”

Perhaps other AMIGOS volunteers felt the same confusion and frustration that I was experiencing. Libby Udelson, a current junior at UC Berkeley, a five-time AMIGOS volunteer, and the Assistant Project Director for the San Pedro, Paraguay trip gave me her opinion on the complexities of foreign aid. Udelson stated, “Foreign aid has historically caused a lot of damage to local cultures as well as economies at large because they do not involve the community, but rather assume a position or role of authority over the community, thereby undermining the community's pre-existing cultural norms and economic livelihoods.”14 Erika Hardaway, the Project Supervisor Director for the San

Pedro Project, echoed Udelson’s concerns: “Sometimes there are conditions attached to foreign aid that benefit the donor and not the natives of the country, [which is a clear example of] a lack of cultural understanding and sensitivity.”15 Both Udelson and

Hardaway admitted that it is very difficult to create service projects that are capable of sustaining themselves long after the aid provider has left the community; however,

Udelson claimed that the overall experience is far more rewarding than the concrete accomplishments: “I would never claim that my work in-country has created any sort of significant impact aside from the friendships and personal connections I've made. The

14 Udelson, Libby. Interview with Becca Benham. Phone Interview. May 3, 2013. 15 Hardaway, Erika. Interview with Becca Benham. Phone Interview. May 3, 2013. impact that these communities have had on my personal growth is far greater than any impact I can claim to have had on them.”

Maybe the problem with me was that I was getting too focused on completing concrete goals that the AMIGOS program had arranged for me that I wasn’t listening to what the community really wanted. A week before we were supposed to leave, my partner and I decided to throw the thick AMIGOS manual out the window. It was obvious that the people in our community were clearly obsessed with one thing: soccer.

Everywhere we looked, children were kicking around tattered volleyballs and wearing jerseys from their favorite fútbol club. We knew that we needed to incorporate this cultural phenomenon into a new project, and the rundown field at the local elementary school was our angle. We hustled to utilize our local resources so that we could complete our project before the summer was over. We started by contacting the local radio station to make an announcement for our building day. For three days we walked up and down the main road talking to families about our project and encouraging their children to come and help us. Everyone collected wood for our new benches and goalposts. We also submitted a request to the AMIGOS international headquarters in Houston, which approved our project and provided us with extra funds to purchase new soccer balls and paint.

Finally, our building day arrived. Instead of the usual eight kids who showed up for our camps, at least fifty youth were waiting at the school for us. Everyone immediately got to work dismantling the deteriorated goal posts and replacing them with new ones, as well as building new benches. They did everything themselves, and my partner and I ended up being the ones sitting on the sidelines. The next day, as my partner and I were walking by the school, a group of children was creating boundaries for the field and told us that they were arranging a soccer tournament for the upcoming weekend.

We were ecstatic: the local youth had taken the initiative to carry out a project themselves and were dedicated to making it last. While I am proud of the stoves we built, the soccer project was even more satisfying because it was a true reflection of “collaborative community development.”

The truth is, I still don’t know what the solution is for Paraguay. Even though there have not been any drastic improvements to Paraguay’s economic, political, and social conditions despite the aid of foreign governments, AMIGOS, and other volunteer organizations such as the Peace Corps, I do believe that a lot of the positive development for this country has come from many intangible forms of community service. The key to truly helping a country is by getting first-hand experience and making personal connections to its people and culture. It may take centuries in order for this complete understanding to occur, but I know that it will pay off in the end. Personal reflection?

Annotated Bibliography

1. Times, Alan Riding, Special To The New York. "Paraguay Coup: Battle for Succession." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Feb. 1989. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. This article covers the story of Alfredo Stroessner, South America’s longest reigning dictator. Stroessner remained the dictator of Paraguay up until 1992 until he was overthrown by General Andrés Rodriguez. In addition to a summary of Stroessner’s time in power, this article also articulates the United States’ view on Paraguay during this turbulent time.

2. "General Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, Dictator of Paraguay." The Economist. N.p., 24 Aug. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. This article covers the personal and political history of Alfredo Stroessner. It was interesting to read several different articles about this political powerhouse, since the opinions of his actions are surprisingly diverse.

3. "Operation Condor Documents." Operation Condor Documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. As one of my primary sources, these documents are actual messages between governmental bodies found during the activity of Operation Condor.

4. Schemo, Diana J. "Stroessner, Paraguay’s Enduring Dictator, Dies." The New York Times. N.p., 16 Aug. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. This is another article about Stroessner’s reign; it goes into detail about the fear he instilled in his people, and his involvement with the Nazis and his investment in the Colorado Party.

5. Paraguay. United Nations. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. N.p.: n.p., 2011. Print. My last primary document was written by the United Nations in 1981 to promote women’s rights throughout the world. In addition to signing this document, Paraguay also highlighted this new attention to women’s rights in their 1992 constitution.

6. "Paraguay: Constitucion De 1992." Paraguay: Constitucion De 1992. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. The third primary document, the Paraguayan constitution, has been altered many times; the changes to the 1992 constitution, however, were especially noteworthy. Written entirely in Spanish, these changes include limiting future presidents’ power in office to five years (to avoid future dictatorships) and a declaration of a refocus on human rights. During the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, there was a lack of attention given to the impoverished citizens of Paraguay, so this new aspect of the constitution provided some new hope.

7. "Paraguay President Fernando Lugo Impeached by Congress." BBC News. BBC, 23 June 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. This article covers the supposed coup d’état of former president of Paraguay Fernando Lugo. His removal from office all happened very fast and, which is why many speculate whether his impeachment was constitutional. Almost all neighboring countries did not support the actions of the Paraguayan government.

8. Turner, Barry. The Statesman's Yearbook 2013: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World. This source presents important historical, political, social, and economic information on Paraguay. These facts will be very useful throughout my entire paper, and will hopefully help frame my argument about why Paraguay is in its current state of political and economic discord.

9. "Education in Paraguay - Data for 2006." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. This data set covers some very interesting information about education in Paraguay, which may provide some insight into various social factors of this country. Some important statistics include only a 10.1% tertiary enrollment and a school life expectancy of just 10 years.

10. "Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean." Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean. Accessed March 18, 2013. http://www5.iadb.org/mif/ProgramsandProjects/AccesstoFinance/Remittances/tabid/215/l anguage/en-US/Default.aspx. This article is from the Multilateral Investment Fund; one of its projects is tracking remittances all throughout Latin America. This article reports that remittances account for a large 7.2% of Paraguay’s GDP, and that in 2006, Paraguayans received a total of $650 million in remittances. This data clearly shows that remittances are a significant part of Paraguayan culture; perhaps this idea of receiving has some correlation with the Paraguayan “expectation” that I experienced during my travels.

11. Lancaster, Carol. "Sixty Years of Foreign Aid: What Have We Learned?" International Journal (2009): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. This article discusses the many different arguments for and against foreign aid in developing countries. This document will be a very interesting source to weave into my own personal opinion as well as the interviews I conducted with Libby Udelson and Erika Hardaway.

12. Kinsbruner, Jay, and Erick Detlef. Langer. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Detroit: Gale, 2008. This particular section of the Encyclopedia of Latin American History touches on the idea of the Dependency Theory, which was a concept that emerged in the 1960’s. The theory boiled down to this: as global superpowers such as the United States and various European countries expanded and had economic success, Latin American countries suffered at their expense. Latin American countries supplied many of the raw materials that these countries needed in order to have economic prosperity, and has created an unhealthy dependency on these developed countries.

13. Udelson, Libby. Interview with Becca Benham. Phone Interview. Berkeley, May 3, 2013. I had the chance to speak with Libby Udelson, who was the Assistant Project Director for my AMIGOS trip this past summer. Libby has been heavily involved with the AMIGOS organization for many years; this past summer was her fifth “AMIGOS summer”. Libby has been working with AMIGOS in many different forms, such as a being a volunteer like me, a service coordinator at the AMIGOS international office in Houston, and a project supervisor. I believe that Libby’s commentary on the role of foreign aid in developing countries will provide an interesting dynamic to my paper.

14. Hardaway, Erika. Interview with Becca Benham. Phone Interview. May 3, 2013. Erika Hardaway was the Project Supervisor Director for my trip to San Pedro. Similar to Libby, Erika has been involved with AMIGOS for many years, and has served as both a volunteer and a project supervisor as well. I think that Erika’s personal experiences will complement my own, and that she will offer very useful insight.

15. "Plan Paraguay." Plan International. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. I did some in-depth digging into the Plan Paraguay website, which is one of the organizations that I worked with while in Paraguay. Plan International is an organization that works in many Latin American countries, with the main mission of promoting causes such as proper education, health, and sustainability for children and their communities. Even though I did not directly cite this information in my page, it did help me come to conclusions about the role of foreign aid in developing countries.

Photos

1. Photograph by Anna Learn

2. Photograph by Derek Schadel