Colorado Party (Paraguay)

The National Republican Association (Spanish: Asociación Nacional Republicana, ANR), also known as the Colorado Party (Spanish: Partido Colorado, lit.'Red Party'), is a conservative political party in Paraguay, founded on 11 September 1887 by Bernardino Caballero. Since 1947, the colorados, as they are known, has been dominant in Paraguayan politics (ruling as the only legal party between 1947 and 1962) and has controlled the presidency since 1948 –notwithstanding a brief interruption between 2008 and 2013– as well as having a majority in both chambers of Congress and department governorships.

National Republican Association – Colorado Party
Asociación Nacional Republicana – Partido Colorado
LeaderSantiago Peña
PresidentHoracio Cartes
FounderBernardino Caballero
Founded11 September 1887; 137 years ago (1887-09-11)
Headquarters25 de Mayo N° 842 c/ Tacuary - Asunción
Membership (2022)2,616,424[1]
IdeologyConservatism[2]
Paraguayan nationalism[3]
Economic liberalism[4]

Pro-Taiwan[5]
Factions:
Stronismo[6]
Social democracy[7]
Right-wing populism[8]
Social conservatism[9][10][11]
Political positionCentre-right[12]
Factions:
Centre-left[13] to far-right[14]
Regional affiliationUnion of Latin American Parties[15]
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union[16]
Colours   Red, white
Chamber of Deputies
48 / 80
Senate
23 / 45
Mercosur Parliament
(Paraguay seats)
11 / 18
Governors
15 / 17
Party flag
Website
www.anr.org.py

With 2.6 million members as of 2022 (although there are allegations of numerous false affiliations made by the party),[17] it is the largest political party in the country, usually ruling without the necessity of electoral alliances.

History

edit

1887–1989

edit

The party, though founded only in 1887 as an answer to the foundation of the Liberal Party in that same year, already informally existed from the late 1870s onward, as a political group centered around Bernardino Caballero, Cándido Bareiro and José Segundo Decoud.

It formally ruled the country from its foundation until 1904, when it was overthrown in the Revolution of 1904. It became the dominant political force in the country when it rejoined the government in 1947, following the conclusion of the 1947 civil war, during Higinio Moríñigo's rule as president. During this time, the party operated multiple paramilitary wings. From 1947 until 1962, the Colorado Party ruled Paraguay as a one-party state; all other political parties were illegal.[18] In 1962, all national parties were nominally legalized; the Communist Party being deemed "international" remained illegal and its adherents repressed by the Paraguayan state. In practice, however, Paraguay remained a one-party military dictatorship, with the Colorado Party serving as one of the "twin pillars" of Alfredo Stroessner's rule, who had assumed the presidency following a coup in 1954 and lasted until 1989, one of the longest in history by a non-royal leader.[19] During Stroessner's rule, all members of the armed forces and government employees were required to be members of the Colorado Party. Dissident groups within the party were purged, and two (Movimiento Popular Colorado and Asociación Nacional Republicana en el Exilio y la Resistencia) acted as opposition groups in exile until the 1980s. In 1987, there was a rift in the party between a hardliner faction supportive of Stroessner's rule and a traditionalist faction.[20] This rift was primarily over the issue of Stroessner's succession and was a large contributor to the 1989 coup d'état led by General Andrés Rodríguez, himself a traditionalist, which ousted Stroessner from power.[21]

Since 1989

edit

In 2002, the National Union of Ethical Citizens split from the party.

During the 2003 Paraguayan general election, at the legislative elections the party won 35.3% of the popular vote (37 out of 80 seats) in the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay and 32.9% (16 out of 45 seats) in the Senate. Its candidate at the presidential elections on the same date, Nicanor Duarte, was elected with 37.1% of the popular vote.

On 20 April 2008, for the first time in 61 years, the Colorado Party lost the presidential elections to an opposition candidate from the centre-left, Fernando Lugo, a Roman Catholic bishop, a first on both accounts (free election of an opposition candidate and of a bishop to the office of president in Paraguay). The Colorado Party was represented in these elections by Blanca Ovelar, the first woman to run for the presidency. Fernando Lugo, who had renounced the cloth before the elections so that he could become eligible under Paraguayan law, was formally released from his vows by the Vatican before his inauguration as president on 15 August 2008.

According to Antonio Soljancic, a social scientist at the Autonomous University of Asunción, "in order to get a job, you have to show you are a party member. The problem Paraguay has is that, although Stroessner disappeared from the political map, he left a legacy that no one has tried to bury".[22]

Electoral history

edit

Presidential elections

edit

Note: From 1947 until 1962, the Colorado Party was the sole legal party. Free and fair elections did not take place until 1993.

Election Party candidate Votes % Result
1953 Federico Chávez 224,788 100% Elected (sole legal party)  Y
1954 Alfredo Stroessner 236,191 100% Elected (sole legal party)  Y
1958 295,414 100% Elected (sole legal party)  Y
1963 569,551 92.3% Elected  Y
1968 465,535 71.6% Elected  Y
1973 681,306 84.7% Elected  Y
1978 905,461 90.8% Elected  Y
1983 944,637 91.0% Elected  Y
1988 1,187,738 89.6% Elected  Y
1989 Andrés Rodríguez 882,957 76.59% Elected  Y
1993 Juan Carlos Wasmosy 449,505 41.78% Elected  Y
1998 Raúl Cubas Grau 887,196 55.35% Elected  Y
2003 Nicanor Duarte 574,232 38.30% Elected  Y
2008 Blanca Ovelar 573,995 31.75% Lost  N
2013 Horacio Cartes 1,104,169 48.48% Elected  Y
2018 Mario Abdo Benítez 1,206,067 48.96% Elected  Y
2023 Santiago Peña 1,292,079 43.94% Elected  Y

Vice presidential election

edit
Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2000 Félix Argaña 587,498 48.8% Lost  N

Chamber of Deputies elections

edit

Note: From 1947 until 1962, the Colorado Party was the sole legal party. Free and fair elections did not take place until 1993.

Election Votes % Seats +/–
1960
60 / 60
  60
1963 569,551 92.3%
40 / 60
  20
1968 465,535 71.6%
40 / 60
 
1973 681,306 84.7%
40 / 60
 
1978 905,461 90.7%
40 / 60
 
1983 944,637 91.0%
40 / 60
 
1988 1,187,738 89.6%
40 / 60
 
1989 845,820 74.5%
40 / 72
 
1993 488,342 43.4%
38 / 80
  2
1998 857,473 53.8%
45 / 80
  7
2003 520,761 35.3%
37 / 80
  8
2008 582,932 32.96%
30 / 80
  7
2013 919,625 40.99%
44 / 80
  14
2018 927,183 39.10%
42 / 80
  2
2023 1,345,730 47.43%
48 / 80
  6

Senate elections

edit

Note: free and fair elections did not take place until 1993.

Election Votes % Seats +/–
1968
20 / 30
  20
1973 681,306 84.7%
20 / 30
 
1978
20 / 30
 
1983
20 / 30
 
1988
20 / 30
 
1993 498,586 44.0%
20 / 45
 
1998 813,287 51.7%
24 / 45
  4
2003 508,506 34.4%
16 / 45
  8
2008 509,907 29.07%
15 / 45
  1
2013 865,206 38.50%
19 / 45
  4
2018 766,841 32.52%
17 / 45
  2
2023 1,317,463 45.72%
23 / 45
  6

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "ANR vuelve a habilitar su padrón con 2.616.424 afiliados que pueden votar". 4 October 2022.
  2. ^ Ramirez, Jose (18 March 2021). "Sobre «Mapa Genético ANR», de Carola González Alsina. Tercera parte".
  3. ^ ""La ANR se sustenta en el nacionalismo y el patriotismo", expresa Darío Filártiga". www.lanacion.com.py (in Spanish). 11 September 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  4. ^ Jorge González-Gallarza (6 July 2023). "Paraguay Athwart consevatism". europeanconservative.com. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Paraguay's Taiwan ties safe as ruling party retains presidency". The Guardian. 1 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Paraguay elige el continuismo del conservador Partido Colorado dando la presidencia a Santiago Peña". es.euronews.com. 1 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Oposición opera maquiavélicamente para derrocarlo, denuncia Nicanor - Política - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py.
  8. ^ "El Partido Colorado de Paraguay consolida su poder hegemónico". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 1 May 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Pueblo de Dios se inscribe en la ANR". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). 2 October 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  10. ^ |Sarah Patricia Cerna Villagra y Rodrigo Manuel Ibarrola (31 August 2020). "Paraguay: el arraigo político y económico de la derecha". Reflexión Política (in Spanish). 22 (45): 116–131. doi:10.29375/01240781.3920. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  11. ^ "El comentario homofobo de un ministro paraguayo: "No quiero ninguno con tendencia homosexual"". www.pagina12.com.ar (in Spanish). 29 February 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Paraguay's Colorados back in office; opposition admits defeat; observers praise election process". MercoPress.
  13. ^ "Nicanor quiere un partido con orientación socialista". Última Hora. 28 April 2007.
  14. ^ "El futuro gabinete de Peña confirma un Paraguay hundido en la ultraderecha". www.tiempoar.com.ar (in Spanish). 9 July 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Partidos Miembros". Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Members". February 2018.
  17. ^ According to multiple sources:
  18. ^ "Paraguay: Opposition Parties". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009.
  19. ^ "Paraguay: The Twin Pillars of the Stroessner Regime". Library of Congress Country Studies. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009.
  20. ^ Smith, James F. (4 February 1989). "Military Coup Topples Paraguay's Stroessner : Incoming President Promises Democracy, Respect for Rights". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Paraguay: Potential Successors to Stroessner" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017.
  22. ^ "Horacio Cartes: Millionaire. Criminal. Business titan. Homophobe. The next president of Paraguay?". The Independent. 19 April 2013.
edit