An interesting article on Paraguay...

[Joanne98]

Paraguay is the Latin American country with the greatest concentration of land ownership in the hands of large landholders. According to the last national agricultural census, a full 77 percent of the country’s fertile land was controlled by just one percent of its landowners.

The Juliana Fleitas settlement is named after a baby girl who died in her mother’s womb as a consequence of police brutality during an attempted eviction in 2004.

On both sides of the rough road that leads to Ypecuá, vast expanses of soybean fields stretch as far as the eye can see. The people who live here call them a "desert of green leaves".

In recent years, soybeans have become Paraguay’s biggest export. The country is currently the world’s fourth largest soy producer, after the United States, Brazil and Argentina.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1181/68/

[Joanne98]

1. More on the upcoming election....

The election climate in Paraguay grows tense with the possible defeat of the Red Party that has been in power for more than half a century. The U.S. ambassador's interference in the electoral campaign and a yellow fever epidemic are keeping tensions high.

Relations between the ambassador and the government grew tense after the Dec. 16 Red Party primary elections to select a candidate for the presidential contest that will be held on April 20. Blanca Ovelar, supported by President Nicanor Duarte, faced Vice President Luis Castiglioni, a personal friend of Donald Rumsfeld and Washington's preferred candidate. The whole clientelist apparatus of the ruling party went for Ovelar, who won by a tiny margin amid accusations of fraud.

Former Bishop in the Lead
According to all the polls, Fernando Lugo of the Patriotic Alliance for Change is in the lead, with a margin of five and 13 points respectively ahead of Lino Oviedo of the National Union of Ethical Citizens and Ovelar of the Red Party. But at the same time, an overwhelming majority of Paraguayans believe that the Red candidate will be the one entering office. In effect, despite Lugo's greater chances, everyone knows that once the well-greased Red apparatus gets going, with its broad dispersing of favors—jobs, bribes, cash—everything can change.

In fact, the Red Party has never lost an election. Its base of support is the armed forces, the police, and the profuse state bureaucracy, which are mobilized to capture votes based on family and territorial affinities. But this time, things could be different for three reasons: the crisis within the Party, the enormous unpopularity of Duarte, and the appearance on the scene of a center-left candidate who can break the eternal two-party split between the Red and the Liberal Parties.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1184/44/

[magbana]

2. Excellent Article

This is a terrific article -- very informative. Thanks for posting it!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Wow! Saving this to read later this evening. Very interested in reading it. Thanks. n/t