Asuncion - History
Paraguay became independent in 1811, after about 300 years of Spanish rule. Since then, the country has been ruled by a succession of dictators, and has endured costly wars against neighbouring countries, particularly in 1865 against Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, as a result of which Paraguay lost much of its territory and roughly half of its population. Since the 1940s, Paraguay has been under military rule for most of the time, interspersed with periods of crisis and internal conflict. A period of intense instability in the late 1940s and early 1950s was brought to an end in 1954 with a military coup by the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, General Alfredo Stroessner. Backed by the military, the business community and the main right-wing grouping, the Partido Colorado, Stroessner retained power for over 32 years. In February 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup led by his former deputy, General Andres Rodriguez. As Stroessner retired into Brazilian exile, a presidential election organised by the new regime, and backed by the Colorado Party, gave a large vote to Rodriguez. With firm prodding from Brazil and the USA, Rodriguez then spent the following two years attempting to drag Paraguay out of its political and economic torpor. Liberalising measures were introduced, coupled with strict fiscal and budgetary control. The old public and private monopolies were shaken up and started to be sold off. The Government made attempts to crack down on smuggling, drug trafficking and tax evasion. The political system opened up, as the stranglehold of the Colorados gradually weakened.
Elections in November 1991 for a new 198-seat National Assembly saw the Colorado Party take two-thirds of the vote (123 seats); a vigorous opposition, led by the Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (PLRA) which won 28% of the vote, emerged after long years of repression. A presidential election was held in May 1993, which pitted the Colorado candidate Juan Carlos Wasmosy against Domingo Laino of the PLRA. Wasmosy won by an 8% margin. The election was also notable for the emergence of a third party, the business-backed Encuentro Nacional (EN), whose candidate, Caballero Vargas, put in a respectable showing. New legislative elections were also held, at which the parties opposed to the president – PRLA, EN and a breakaway group from Colorado, the Movimento de Reconciliacion Colorada (MCR) – secured a majority in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The army, long a dominant force in Paraguayan politics, has broadly accepted its loss of influence. In 1995, however, there were signs of serious unrest in the army: President Wasmosy instituted a reorganisation of the military high command to forestall any attempted coup. The progress made by the Government so far has gained it admission as a founding member of the Mercosur group, a common market in the south of the Latin American continent including Brazil and Argentina. The inaugural ceremony for the group was held in Asuncion in March 1991. However, there has been rising domestic opposition to Mercosur, especially from the country's small farmers. This, along with strains within the ruling Colorado faction and allegations of corruption directed at Wasmosy have combined to make the President's life increasingly difficult.
Asuncion the capital of Paraguay, is occupying a wooded promontory descending to the Paraguay River near its confluence with the Pilcomayo. It lies 50 m (175 ft) above sea level. The city was so named when a stockade was completed there on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) in 1537. When Buenos Aires was evacuated in 1541 after an attack by the Pampa Indians, the inhabitants fled to Asuncion. It was the headquarters of Spanish colonial activities in eastern South America for nearly half a century before Buenos Aires was refounded. In 1588 Jesuits established mission settlements on the Parana River to convert the Guarani Indian population. The Indians accepted the Spaniards, who introduced them to horseback riding and to coffee. Intermarriage of Indians and Spaniards contributed to the largely mestizo character of the present Paraguayans. After official separation from Buenos Aires in 1617, Asuncion declined in importance. Partly because of its remoteness from Spain, nationalist and separatist movements began early in Paraguay: the Jesuits were expelled in 1767, and independence from both Spain and Argentina was declared in Asuncion at midnight on May 14/15, 1811. The city's strategic position at the head of a great river system linking Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, its three enemies in the Paraguayan War (1864-70), led to Asuncion's capture in 1868, and Brazil occupied and administered it until 1876.
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