The Colorado State of Paraguay

Pelao Carvallo

The Colorado State of Paraguay, officially known as the Republic of Paraguay, is a hegemonic one-party regime controlled, sustained, maintained, and amplified by the National Republican Association (ANR, the Colorado Party) throughout the Paraguayan state. This regime controls and regulates the interaction between the branches of government, departmental and municipal administrations, and civil society, as well as with social organizations, movements, and political parties, in order to maintain and strengthen its hegemony through procedures ranging from electoral and judicial processes to economic, cultural, and other spheres.

The Colorado Party, with its national presence through its local branches, is the organic and legal apparatus that the Paraguayan and international elite maintains as a tool for stability in Paraguay. The Colorado Party's legitimate and legal control extends to all levels of the Paraguayan state and parastatal organizations: the judicial, executive, and legislative branches, the public prosecutor's office, hydroelectric plants, state-owned enterprises, the major labor unions, public universities (except the National University of Pilar) and private universities, and it also leaves its mark on culture in general, the elite, and businesses of all sizes.

Member of the CLACSO Working Group on Collective Memories and Practices of Resistance. Teleconference given on October 27, 2021, broadcast by the Latin American and Caribbean Antimilitarist Network (RAMALC), available at this link https://fb.watch/9aLqoCwZkX/