Paraguay marks 25 years of partial democracy

On 3 February, Paraguay will commemorate a quarter of a century of "incomplete" democracy. Alfredo Stroessner, head of Latin America's longest-running dictatorship, was finally forced out by a further coup in 1989. Shortly afterwards, he fled to Brazil, where he died 17 years later.

The overthrow led to a certain political opening up, the recovery of some political freedoms, the progressive reintegration of Paraguay into the international community and slow steps towards democracy, at least nominally. But in elections in May 1989, the Partido Colorado - the party of the dictatorship - won with 74% of the votes. The historic transfer of power away from the party did not come until 2008, and it returned to government in 2013.

The crimes which took place during the dictatorship remain largely unpunished. These are thought to include 425 deaths or disappearances and 20,000 politicial prisoners.

A recent survey illustrates how far the process of democratisation has to go in Paraguay: 32% of the population today would prefer an authoritarian government. This is the highest proportion in Latin America, according to Latinobarómetro.

Fernando Masi of the Paraguayan economic research institute Cadep judges the country to be "a low-quality democracy". He also explains that 1989 was not the moment when Paraguay "regained" its democracy but rather when it started building it - and this without a clean break, since the Partido Colorado remained in power.

Paraguay is still the country with the second-greatest concentration of land ownership in the world, according to the UN. 2.6% of landlords own 85.5% of agricultural land. Nepotism remains a major issue, although some protests highlighted the problem in the last year.


Paraguay: A 25 años del golpe que terminó con la dictadura mas larga de Sudamérica (Telam)

Paraguay conmemora 25 años de democracia incompleta (Terra)

Chile: Municipal elections

Chile held municipal elections on Sunday, notable for the fact that this was the first poll since compulsory voting was scrapped. Previously, registering on the electoral role was optional but once registered, you had to vote. Turnout this time was low, at around 40%. This is not a great result but after all, local elections in Europe often get very low interest as well. Still, it's something Chile will want to work on changing.

President Sebastian Pinera said,

"Many Chileans decided not to exercise their right nor their duty to participate in these elections. That is a warning sign that will not and should not go unnoticed." 

 I've mentioned before the issue of disappeared people appearing on the electoral role. In addition, Salvador Allende's granddaughter Maya Fernández Allende defeated the incumbent mayor, Pedro Sabat of the centre-right National Renovation party, in the Santiago district of Nuñoa

Chile local polls see low turnout with voting voluntary (BBC)
The Day After (Robert L. Funk)
Salvador Allende's granddaughter in Chile election win (Guardian)

Peru: Uchuraccay relatives reject MOVADEF

(It's the time of year when Peru recalls the killings of eight journalists in Uchuraccay in 1983. Relatives of the victims have spoken of their opposition to MOVADEF, a group linked to Shining Path. The Peruvian journalists assocation ANP has also taken the opportunity to voice its opposition to a bill which could restrict press freedom in the country.

Journalism groups use gruesome anniversary to criticize controversial Peruvian press bill (Journalism in the Americas)
Deudos de Uchuraccay:Rechacemos al Movadef (Cronica Viva)

Peru: More on Movadef

Yesterday for the first time I mentioned Movadef, the movement which has grown out of Peru's Shining Path and is currently attempting to be recognised as a legal political organisation, to the consternation of parties across the political spectrum. Questions are being asked about where the group is getting its support from and what Peru is doing wrong if its young people can be prepared to turn to a Shining Path-linked group - important questions, I feel.

Caricaturist Carlin in today's La Republica sums up the position of the new group:

- There was no terrorism.* There were bombs, murders of authorities, leaders, farmers, men, women and children, but none of that was terrorism.
- Will you people commit acts of terrorism?
- According to what I've said, obviously not.

There's not much in English around yet, but this is a good overview from the Peruvian Times:
Legislators To Back Bill To Block Movadef Registration

*More in this article about what happened in the 1980s "not being terrorism".

Peru: Call for memory topics to be taught in school

Rocio Silva Santisteban, executive secretary of the Peruvian National Human Rights Coordinator (CNDDHH), has called on education minister Patricia Salas to include memory topics, including the history of the Shining Path, in the national curriculum.

Her reason for doing so is to avoid the acceptance of groups such as MOVADEF (Movimiento por la Amnistía y los Derechos Fundamentales - Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights), a pro-Shining Path group currently attempting to gain official recognition as a political party.

She also flatly rejected MOVADEF's calls for an amnesty for jailed Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán.

Piden a ministra de Educación incluir en currícula escolar la historia de Sendero (La Republica)

Argentina: Concerns over new terrorism law

Having just written about a positive development on Argentina's human rights scene, I also wanted to flag up an issue causing concern: the new anti-terrorism law. The new package of measures is intended to combat financial crimes, but opponents are worried that its vague terms could be employed against legitimate protesters. As a major feature of Argentina's last dictatorship (and, indeed, its previous ones) was the labelling of all dissenters as "terrorists" , it's easy to understand why people are very sensitive to this possibility.

The law has been criticised by Abuelas' president Estela de Carlotto, their lawyer Alan Iud, human rights group CELS, and others.

Tougher Argentine terror laws concern opponents (AP)
Anti-Terrorism Law Upsets Harmony Between Government and Activists (IPS)
Argentine human rights reference openly criticizes the Anti-Terrorism law (Mercopress)
Argentina: Fears Over Terror Law (NY Times)

Uruguay: Threats against judges in human rights cases

A video in which apparent members of the military threaten judges and prosecutors who conduct investigations into crimes against humanity during the last military dictatorship (1973-1985) has caused alarm in Uruguay, writes Mexican daily El Universal. The tape was revealed on Wednesday by weekly Búsqueda. It shows three men in combat uniform, with their faces covered in balaclavas, who announce the start of "military operations in the whole country" to "secure the freedom of the political prisoners", as they call the members of the military accused of torture, forced disappearance, and other crimes. Defence minister Luis Rosadilla confirmed the existence of the video and said that it was the job of the police to investigate.

Video consterna a Uruguay (Universal)
Rechazo general por un video con amenazas de supuestos militares (El Pais, Uruguay)

Peru: Keiko Fujimori justifies "self-coup"

Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori has spoken out in favour of her father's "self-coup" of 1992, when he dissolved congress. An interesting view of democracy from someone looking to be the head of state in a democracy. But she has promised that she wouldn't do such a thing herself. Well, that's alright then, isn't it?

Keiko Fujimori justified her father’s self-coup in 1992 (Living in Peru)

Chile: Election Sunday Round-Up

Numerous bloggers with more Chile-specific knowledge than me will doubtless be following today's elections.

My attention was caught by an article in the New York Times about the reluctance of young Chileans to vote.

Just 9.2 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds are registered to vote on Sunday, the lowest number for a presidential election since democracy was restored in 1990

That really is an amazing low figure. The article identifies a series of interconnected reasons for young people's rejection of the electoral system.

I hope that 9 percent becomes zero percent,” said Gonzalo Castillo, an 18-year-old history major at the University of Chile, who said he refused to register. “All the candidates represent the interests of the oligarchy, of big business interests.”

Chile’s young people say they are frustrated by a system that requires anyone who registers to cast votes for the rest of their lives, and slaps a fine on those who do not. They say the system, set up under General Pinochet, limits their freedom of expression and discourages them from registering.

But the younger generation is also deeply apathetic about traditional politics in general, and fiercely independent of the issues that concern their parents, most of whom lived through the dictatorship.

“Chile’s youth today see political discourse as the language of their parents, not as their language,” said Juan Eduardo Faúndez, the director of the National Youth Institute. “These are the children of democracy, and they have other options and other demands of Chilean society, and of the political class.”

As the article points out, young Chileans will engage with political issues which they feel affected by - but using methods such as public protest, not by voting. This is an interesting legacy of the dictatorship; simplistically, one might expect the population to have an enthusiasm for the democratic process fostered by the length of time it was denied to them, but this is not exactly how it works. Susana Kaiser's book Postmemories of Terror, for which the author interviewed many young Argentines who were too young to remember the dictatorship personally, revealed a similar reticence to engage with the political system. Aside from activists who had strong personal connections to victims of the regime, such as members of HIJOS, many young Argentines were uninterested in party politics, vague about the exact causes of political repression, and still felt inhibited by the belief of their parents that political involvement could be dangerous. For both countries, the lack of engagement of younger generations could pose a serious challenge in coming years.

Chile's 'Children of Democracy' Sitting Out Presidential Election (NY Times)

In other news, exhumations of mass graves may shed light on the death of a British-Chilean priest in 1973.

Woodward died at the Valparaiso naval hospital on September 22. The official cause of his death was “cardio-respiratory arrest.” But this official version has always been contested, with his family insisting that the priest died as a result of torture.

[...]

Witness reports claim that Woodward was beaten and repeatedly dunked in a swimming pool until he suffocated. He was taken to the Esmeralda, which was then be used to hold political opponents of the military regime, where attempts were made to revive him. His body was then buried anonymously in a mass grave with other victims.

Search for remains of British priest killed when[sic] 1973 coup (Mercopress)

The international media has picked up on the story of the six arrests in connection with the death of former Chilean president, Eduardo Frei Montalva, whose son is a candidate in today's elections. Frei senior was originally said to have died of natural causes, but it now seems that he was poisoned.

Pinochet's other victim (Guardian)
6 Arrested for Murder of Former Chilean President (Impunity Watch)
Chile judge charges six over ex-president's 1982 death (BBC)

Peru: Salomon Lerner Receives Death Threats

Shocking and disappointing news from Peru is that the former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) and currently vice-president of the Museum of Memory commission, Salomon Lerner Febres, has received telephone death threats at both his work and home addresses. Disgustingly, the cowards have also poisoned his two dogs, who both died.

This is another reminder of the challenges that human rights defenders face in many Latin American nations, not helped by governments in Peru and Colombia which tend to criticise HR organisations and apparently regard them as a threat.

The National Human Rights Coordinator (CNDDHH) has strongly condemned the intimidation. Let us hope that the government does the same in the strongest possible terms and provides suitable protection for Dr Lerner.

Ex presidente de la CVR Salomon Lerner denuncia amenaza de muerte (La Republica)

Argentina: Mohamed Alí Seineldín is Dead

Argentine colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín, known for his role in the carapintada uprisings, has died aged 75.

The carapintadas - painted faces - were a faction within the armed forces who threatened coups at several points during the 1980s in response to the prosecutions of military officers for human rights abuses during the dictatorship. Military unrest played a major role in the capitulation of the democratic government which passed the 'full stop' and 'due obedience' laws and granted amnesties to convicted military perpetrators.

'Next week is going to be a game of nerves,'' the future official said. ''It's a mystery now who controls the army -the generals or Mohammed Ali Seineldin and his people.''

Read the original report from the New York Times on the June, 1989 uprising.

Seineldin was a man from Entre Rios, one of the old Nationalist strongholds... Despite his Muslim origins, Seineldin was known as "a sworn foe of the United States and a fanatical Catholic who would like to see the cross replace the sun in the centre of Argentina's flag"... In early December 1990, the carapintadas rebelled for a fourth time in three years. In a written statement, which ended with the words "Dios, Patria o Muerte" Seineldin acknowledged his "total reponsibility" for this action in which around a score of persons died.
[David Rock, Authoritarian Argentina, p. 236]

According to Deborah Norden, Seineldin saw himself as a saviour of Argentina, comparable to Jesus [Military Rebellion in Argentina, p. 148]. Eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, he was later freed by President Eduardo Duhalde.

Defense Minister Nilda Garre has said that there will not be military honours at his funeral.

Retired military Mohamed Alí Seineldín died (Telam)
Con la cruz a la espada (Pagina/12)
Murio Seineldin, el jefe del ultimo alzamiento carapintada, en 1990 (Clarin)

News Round-Up 18/07/2009

Central America: Shades of Coups Past - And Yet to Come? (IPS)

Journalist Death Threat Stirs Chile (Prensa Latina)

Inquiry on 1994 Blast at Argentina Jewish Center Gets New Life (NYT)

Remembering Dictatorships and Double Standards

Events in Honduras have cast a lot of minds back to the "bad old days" of military dictatorships in Latin America. Here are just two links for today which draw parallels between old and new in very different contexts.

Duncan Campbell wonders why British Home Secretary Jack Straw cannot countenance the release of an aged, ailing train robber, but expressed compassion for Augusto Pinochet:
Sympathy for the Devil (Guardian)

And Daniel Luban and Jim Lube look at the history of US attitudes to coups and "friendly authoritarians":
Dictatorships and Double Standards Revisited (IPS)

News Round-Up

Colombia
MPs Attack Colombia Military Aid (BBC)

El Salvador
Activist Disappears (Tim's El Salvador Blog)

Honduras
Analysts Call Coup a "Return to the Past" (IPS)

Honduras: Back to the Bad Old Days? (Guardian)

Peru
Piden se reabra caso El Fronton (CNDDHH)

Uruguay
Condemned to Repeat it? (Memory in Montevideo)

Peru to Create Military Ombudsman

Peru is to create a military ombudsman (defensoria del personal militar) to uphold the rights of members of the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence has announced. The ombudsman's office will be able to provide legal advice, information, supervision of basic services to soldiers, and so on.

I have nothing against this in principle - in fact, quite the contrary. As we saw from the Shining Path ambush a few months back when underage soldiers were killed, there is good reason to be concerned about the rights of soldiers. Although human rights are universal, the armed forces have specific issues which makes them worthy of particular consideration. Giving soldiers the tools to understand their own rights may also help them to uphold the rights of others. Peru is also in good company with nations such as Canada, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands also having ombudsmen. I just hope that this is not used as another stick with which to beat the human rights organisations who are sometimes presented, quite erroneously, as 'persecuting' the armed forces. Basically, I'm suspicious of anything Defense Minister Flores-Aráoz does.

Ministerio de Defensa crea la Defensoria del Personal Militar (El Comercio)

See also:
Por una defensoria del militar YA! (Ideele)

Peru: Majority Value Democracy

According to the results of a survey mentioned by El Comercio, the majority of Peruvians consider a democracy the best form of government. It's not a huge majority though.

The article reports that 56% of Peruvians prefer democracy to any other form of government, 22% don't prefer any particular type of government, 19% think that an authoritarian government or a dictatorship is sometimes preferable to a democratic government, and 3% aren't sure.

One of the academics involved in the survey, Carmen Rosa Balbi from the Catholic University (PUCP), believes that "this poll shows that we are living in a time where the majority values democracy, but there is also a good percentage of Peruvians who hope that democracy will bring them quality of life, and not just freedom of expression and the right to vote". She adds, "If there is no quality of life, people will ask themselves what democracy is doing for them." (All trans mine).

Pese a todo, los peruanos valoran y prefieren vivir en democracia (El Comercio)

US/Chile: McCain met Pinochet

Thanks to Two Weeks Notice and BoRev for pointing me to the story that John McCain had a meeting with General Pinochet in Chile in 1985. No meeting with dictators without pre-conditions, eh?

McCain described the meeting with Pinochet "as friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism."

Really?! But then, the US's support for the Chilean dictatorship is no secret, so we shouldn't really be that surprised about the meeting. Here's the full story:

McCain's Private Visit with Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed for First Time (The Huffington Post)

Film Review: War on Democracy

John Pilger's War on Democracy is reviewed by NACLA:

Perhaps the most poignant moment in John Pilger’s latest documentary, The War on Democracy, comes during an interview with Sister Dianna Ortiz, the U.S. nun tortured by Guatemalan security forces in 1989. “I’ve heard people say that what happened in Abu Ghraib is an isolated incident,” she says, with a mix of outrage and disbelief. “And I just shake my head and say: Are we on the same planet? Aren’t you aware of our history? Isn’t history taught in the classroom about the role of the U.S. government in human rights violations?”

Cold War Terror in the Americas: A History Lesson

Here's a trailer:

Bolivia: Comparisons with Chile's 9/11

As illustrated by the front page of Argentina's Pagina/12 today, comparisons are being drawn between the situation in Bolivia and that of Chile in 1973, with some calling the violence in the Andean nation an attempted coup. See also Abiding in Bolivia.