Paraguay

Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is one of the only two landlocked countries in South America (along with Bolivia). It lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, bordering Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest, and is located in the center of South America, the country is sometimes referred to as Corazón de América - Heart of (South) America along with Bolivia and Brazil.

History

Paraguay was formerly part of the Spanish Empire.

White Genocide

The Paraguayan White genocide started in 1814, when the dictator, of presumably Portuguese origin, and inspired by ideals of the French Revolution, banned whites from marrying each other, while allowing mixed and non-white marriages. This virtually extinguished the white population of Paraguay.

It was March 1 1814, and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, was about to become “Supreme Dictator”, a title he would hold until his death in 1840. [...] He remains a mysterious figure, who had a doctorate in theology but in politics behaved as a French Jacobin. Running an austere and orderly iron-fisted government, Francia secured Paraguayan independence by isolating his nation from the outside world. In 1814, Francia issued a decree forbidding marriages between “European men” (namely, Spaniards) and women “known as Spanish” (born in Spain or of Spanish descent). European men would only be allowed to marry indigenous, mixed-race or black Paraguayan women. By preventing the white elite from reproducing, Francia’s decree had the undeniable potential to allow the newly independent Paraguay to rise as a mixed-race nation. But was that Francia’s intent? Scholars differ on the reasoning behind his law, which is unique in all Latin American, if not in world, history. Sergio Guerra Vilaboy sees it as an economic effort, noting that in newly post-colonial Paraguay, Europeans still held a prominent position. By curbing their power, Francia dealt “a hard blow to the old trade oligarchy of [the capital] Asunción”, allowing other social classes to thrive. For Julio César Chaves, the 1814 marriage decree aimed to reduce the political threat posed by royalist Spaniards in Paraguay, and it was one of many such provisions. In addition to forbidding Europeans to wed Europeans, Francia also confiscated royal and church lands and gave them to indigenous peasants as “state ranches”. In return, they served as soldiers loyal to the Supreme Dictator; no one was allowed to hold a rank above captain.

The law stated :

As a necessary measure, demanded by the need to facilitate the progress of the sacred cause of freedom of the Republic against the machinations of its enemies, the consular government agrees:

1º That no marriage of a European male with an American woman known and reputed as Spanish in the town is to be authorized from the first to the last social class (…) and confinement in Fort Borbón of the European contracting party for ten years and confiscation of their property.

2º That in the case of any European trying to marry an American woman of the expressed Spanish quality and class (…) clandestinely, they will be punished with the same penalties, without prejudice to deciding on the nullity of the marriage thus contracted.

3º That in no secular or ecclesiastical court be admitted petitions or betrothal of European males, even promised by public deed, to women of the aforementioned quality, or on alleged statutory rape in order to force the marriage between such persons, under the same penalties indicated.

4º That European males should not be admitted to baptisms as godparents, nor in the confirmations of children of the aforementioned class; nor be admitted as witnesses of any marriage, under the same penalties. But Europeans can marry Indian, Mixed-blood and Black women.

From 1870 onwards a wave of immigration from Europe started. Approximately 35,000 Europeans moved to Paraguay between 1870 and 1950, including around 8,000 German Mennonites. These are relatively small numbers compared to its neighbours Brazil and Argentina, as the population of Paraguay numbered several hundreds of thousands.

Current ethnic demographics

The Paraguayan census does not ask about race.

A dubious estimate from 1987 puts the white population of Paraguay at 20%. This estimate is still referenced today, as if it were an immutable fact. Francisco Lizcano Fernández, in his 2005 ethnic analysis of Latin American countries, describes that in many other sources the criollo (white) percentage does not exceed 5%.

In the 2011 Latinobarometro survey, 29% of Paraguayans identified as white and 55% as mestizo. However, in the 2016 Latinobarometro survey only 3% identified as white, 81% as mestizo, and 9% didn't know, giving an unsatisfactorily broad range of 3-12% for 2016, and 3-29% overall.

Genetic data analysed with Eurogenes K15 puts 11% of the population at over 80% European, compared to neighbouring Argentina and Brazil where 52-54% of the population is over 80% European, and Bolivia where 0% (excluding the German Mennonites, around 1% of the population) is over 80% European.

See also

• War of the Triple Alliance

External links

• Encyclopedia.com: Paraguay