American Colonies

Located in South America, the modern republic of Paraguay is a presidential constitutional state. Its name apparently originates from a native Guarani word or words which relate to the river which runs through the heart of the country, although this is disputed and many other explanations are offered. The country borders Brazil to the north, Bolivia to the north-west, and Argentina to the south and east. Its capital is Asuncion.

Paraguay initially formed a region within the 'Viceroyalty of Peru', and under the direct control of Rio de la Plata. Initial Spanish settlement was sparse, allowing the original Guarani population to exist in relative peace for the most part.

Then Francisco de Borja y Aragon in 1617 divided Rio de la Plata in two, creating Buenos Aires and Paraguay, both of which remained Spanish Colonial dependencies of Peru. Rio de la Plata was raised as the 'Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata' in 1776 to govern Peru's former southern provinces of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The name 'Paraguay' was at first used for the entire Rio Plata basin, but these gradual subdivisions saw it eventually applied to the territory which forms the modern state. Independence was declared in 1811, but the state lost large swathes of its territory following the bloody Chaco War in 1935.

The end for colonial controls came when Buenos Aires was able to beat off an attempted invasion by Great Britain in 1807, but then then the French occupied Spain itself, showing how weak the imperial master had become. Various wars of independence broke out across the Spanish Americas, and the Rio de la Plate viceroyalty was all but dead by 1810.

A new, republican administration was formed which was free of any direct Spanish control. This was despite there not having been any declaration of independence (unlike in Venezuela), and despite attempts by the self-declared viceroy, Francisco Javier de Elio y Olondriz, to take control in 1811.

The 'United Provinces of South America' were far from stable however. All the while the Spanish were fighting to regain their lost territories - with Argentina's own fight against them not ending until 1818 - the former colonial states were also fighting each other.

In 1814, this large political entity was renamed the 'United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata', with Buenos Aires as the capital. In the process Paraguay was lost as it established an independent state, while Chile to the west established its own republic.

Modern Paraguay's relative isolation is reflected in a modest economy, one in which agriculture dominates, and in which tourism is a fraction of that of its better-known neighbours. Agricultural products dominate exports, with about eighty-seven percent of all imports into the European Union (EU) being agriculture-based Paraguayan exports.

Hydro-electric power is another notable industry, but Paraguay remains very much underdeveloped in that area, with a significant number of its seven million population living in poverty despite impressive growth rates in the 2010s and early 2020s. Indigenous groups are still to be found in the more remote areas, such as the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode natives who live in the semi-arid Chaco region.

Following power struggles in the elite, Paraguay's democratic transformation began in 1989 after thirty-five years of dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner. The transformation was marked by significant continuity amongst the political and bureaucratic establishment, and then by political instability and turmoil, and continued military influence.

General Lino Oviedo, commander-in-chief, failed in a coup attempt in 1996. One of his allies, President Cubas, resigned to avoid impeachment thanks to alleged involvement in the murder of Vice-President Luis María Argana. Paraguay seems to be unable to escape its long legacy of minor coups and political malfeasance.

The Americas

South American States

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