Partido Colorado

   / Red Party

   One of the two dominant political parties of Paraguay—the other is the Partido Liberal (Liberal Party). Along with the military, the Partido Colorado was a pillar of support for the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled Paraguay from 1954 to 1989.

   Officially known as the Asociación Nacional Republicana (National Republican Association), the Partido Colorado was founded in 1887 by General Bernardino Caballero. Its roots, however, go back to the period following the War of the Triple Alliance (1865–1870), in which Paraguay, led by the dictator Francisco Solano López, was handed a humiliating defeat by the allied armies of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The war left Paraguay devastated, and two political clubs emerged, each blaming the other for the devastation. The forerunner of the Partido Colorado was the Club del Pueblo (People’s Club), also known as the Colorados (Reds) because of the red neckties and ponchos worn by its supporters. Its rival was the Gran Club (Great Club), also known as the Azules (Blues). The Gran Club would evolve into the Partido Liberal—liberal in the sense of laissez-faire.

   The Colorados evoked the memory of Solano López, who had died in battle. They took pride in knowing that General Caballero had fought alongside him. The Liberals, in contrast, had spent the Solano López years in exile, considered Solano López a tyrant, and fought against him in the war. The Colorados labeled the Liberals unpatriotic; the Liberals labeled the Colorados ultraconservative. But despite their differing opinions of Solano López, the two parties largely pursued the same conservative policies. Membership in a party or party faction was based not on loyalty to an ideology but on loyalty to a patrón, or protector, who would maneuver himself into power and reward his supporters with a share of the spoils. The Partido Colorado first gained the presidency in 1878 and controlled it until 1904, when the Liberals came to power in a revolution. The Colorados began to climb back into power in 1946 after General Higinio Morínigo, who had ruled as a nonparty dictator since 1940, established a coalition government composed of Colorados and members of the Partido Revolucionario Febrerista (PRF, February Revolutionary Party). In January 1947 Morínigo disbanded the coalition government and formed a new government supported only by the military and the Colorados. He imposed a state of siege—which, except for brief periods, would remain in effect for 40 years—and drove the Liberals and the Febreristas into exile. His actions provoked a civil war that lasted from March to August 1947, a war that pitted the Febreristas, the Liberals, and the Partido Comunista Paraguayo (PCP, Paraguayan Communist Party) against Morínigo. Morínigo prevailed, relying heavily on the Colorados and their peasant militia, the py nandí (Guaraní for “barefoot ones”).

   The Colorados emerged from the 1947 civil war in full control of the government. By then, the Colorados had split into two factions. The democráticos, led by Federico Chávez, were willing to work with other parties; the guionistas, led by Juan Natalicio González, opposed any collaboration. Indeed, Natalicio González had formed a band of storm troopers, the Guión Rojo (Red Banner), to help him seize power. In November 1947 he used the Guión Rojo to disrupt the Partido Colorado convention and then forced the party to nominate him for president. He won the February 1948 election unopposed but was overthrown in January 1949. A series of coups followed, and Alfredo Stroessner, an army officer who had helped the Colorados win the 1947 civil war, was involved in all of them. After ousting Federico Chávez on 5 May 1954, Stroessner won the presidency on 11 May 1954, running unopposed as the Colorado candidate.

   Stroessner gradually shaped the Partido Colorado to his will, purging it of all rivals, including the democráticos. Stroessner was the supreme party patrón, and remained so for 35 years, rewarding his supporters in the party and the military with spoils from the country’s thriving business in contraband. Although, beginning in the early 1960s, Liberals and Febreristas were tolerated as a loyal opposition and allowed to participate in elections, the Colorados remained the dominant party and were assured of the vast majority of legislative seats. Moreover, only Colorados could be civil servants. After Stroessner was overthrown on 3 February 1989 by General Andrés Rodríguez, Colorado dominance—as well as corruption—continued. On 20 April 2008 Fernando Lugo, a former bishop and a non-Colorado, was elected president, ending 62 years of the Colorados’ hold on the presidency.