The Paraguayan oligarchy—subservient to transnational interests and supported directly by the U.S. government—used a crisis that occurred in the city of Curuguaty as a pretext to remove President Fernando Lugo from office. It was carried out by a lightning-quick impeachment process in the Paraguayan Senate that lasted 24 hours and gave Lugo only two hours for his defense.
By 39 votes in favor, two abstentions and four against, the Senate members ratified their spurious charge of “poor performance” of Lugo’s presidential functions. They also accused him of generating a “constant confrontation and struggle of social classes” and “instigating poor farmers to occupy land.”
On June 15 in Curuguaty, near the Brazilian border, a dozen farmers and six policemen were killed during an attempted eviction of landless peasants occupying an area belonging to a major landowner in the country.
The overwhelming vote against Lugo was only possible because the parliament is dominated by the right-wing Colorado (Red) Party. Lugo’s allies had abandoned him in the days leading up to the impeachment.
The class struggle in Paraguay is not a product of Lugo as an individual, but is instead caused by the extreme gap between rich and poor. According to the World Bank, an astounding 85 percent of the country’s land—more than 70 million acres—is owned by 2 percent of the population.
U.S. agribusiness giants like Cargill and Monsanto have extensive ownership of land and are spreading the cultivation of their transgenic crops of soy and corn across the country. A main protagonist of the coup, Aldo Zucolillo, is owner of the influential right-wing newspaper ABC Color and is closely associated with Cargill and acts on its behalf.
Paraguay is a landlocked country with only the Paraguay River as a water outlet. Because of the virtual monopoly of land ownership by a tiny minority, with Cargill and Monsanto at the forefront along with the Paraguayan oligarchy, the super-rich have more easily exercised power through loyal politicians to maximize their profits at the expense of the Paraguayan people.
Although in his four years of administration very few of Lugo’s promises actually materialized, the mere suggestion of greater social justice and the heightened expectations among the people that his presidency brought was sufficient reason for the right wing to overthrow Lugo.
WikiLeaks cables expose coup plans in 2009
The powerful land-based oligarchy, which has dominated through fraudulent elections and martial law for decades, was eager to get rid of Lugo since he was democratically elected in 2008. From 1954 to 1989, General Alfredo Stroessner ruled by a permanent state of siege, and any opposition to his rule was met with severe repression.
An astounding set of U.S. Embassy cables from Asunción, Paraguay, in 2009—released by WikiLeaks—exposes the U.S. government’s knowledge of plots to oust Lugo in order to reinstall the right-wing politicians who would favor the oligarchy.
One such cable to the U.S. State Department dated March 28, 2009, says: “Rumors persist that discredited General and UNACE party leader Lino Oviedo and ex-president Nicanor Duarte Frutos are now working together to assume power via (mostly) legal means should President Lugo stumble in coming months. Their goal: capitalize on any Lugo missteps to break the political deadlock in Congress, impeach Lugo and assure their own political supremacy.”
With the passing of three years since those plot plans were first formulated, the individuals have changed but the powers-that-be remain in control.
With Lugo’s destitution, his vice-president, Federico Franco, went along with the parliamentary coup and assumed the presidency with the Paraguayan Senate’s backing. He has assured the United States that the Paraguayan Senate will vote against the entry of Venezuela to MERCOSUR, the South Common Market (with members Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay).
But Franco’s promises were thwarted by the emerging cooperation in Latin America seeking a path independent of Washington’s dictates. Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay recalled their ambassadors from Paraguay. On June 29, MERCOSUR temporarily suspended Paraguay’s membership. In that gathering, Venezuela was also admitted as a full member, to take effect on July 31.
Immediately afterwards, UNASUR, the South American Union of Nations, suspended Paraguay from membership.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff declared earlier, “The Paraguayan right wing, the conservative sectors carried out a true coup d’etat, removing a president who was elected in a sovereign and democratic manner by the people.” At a military parade in Caracas, President Hugo Chávez announced that Venezuela’s subsidized oil shipments to Paraguay would be immediately stopped.
The coup in Paraguay and the coup that took place three years ago in Honduras have common goals: reverse the social achievements of progressive or liberal governments in Latin America, destabilize the region, and if need be, facilitate direct military intervention by the United States.
Even while the impeachment was still being carried out against Lugo, Paraguayan deputies were meeting with U.S. military officials to negotiate the installation of a military base in Chaco. Paraguay has a geo-strategic importance to the United States, since it is bordered by Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina—other countries the U.S empire seeks to dominate.
Many of the countries of the region such as Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Cuba repudiate the coup and some have withdrawn their ambassadors, while Germany, Spain and the Vatican have already recognized the new president.
The class struggle is not an invention of Lugo but is a direct result of the capitalist system based on the exploitation of labor. It is only through resistance and struggle that the Paraguayan people will define their future.
