Politics, History, and Celebrations

***The following blog post is a reflection of my personal beliefs or at least what I have been able to ascertain while living in Paraguay and in no way reflects the views of the U.S. Peace Corps or the United State Government. Cheers!***

I’m sitting in my little casita drinking instant coffee, listening to Nick Drake and rain falling outside my window. ¿Que falta? It has been a very eventful few days here in San Bernardino. Yesterday was voting day for municipal elections and my community majority elected a “Liberal” Intendente who will function as mayor. This is significant because, historically, the opposing “Colorado Party” has more or less dominated politics throughout the country with fear tactics in the old days and with favors and nepotism in the modern era. It is, at first, bewildering to an outsider that the Colorado Party still has a great deal of support in Paraguay because it was the party of the late Dictator Alfredo Stroessner. He was of the last true South American dictators and held power for over thirty-five years until 1989 when he was ousted by Andrés Rodríguez, a close friend and high ranking military leader throughout Stroessner’s many terms. In fact, of all the 20^th century Latin American leaders, Stroessner’s extended stay in office was only second in duration to Fidel Castro.

The period is said to be one of stability and reasonable economic prosperity but at the cost of basic human rights. Every 90 days, a “State of Siege” was declared which effectively created a climate of Martial Law. However, there was substantial growth and development in the 1970s with the construction of hydroelectric dams, which afforded Paraguayans with cheap energy, but little was spent on public works. This is evident even today, walking in the capital of Asunción you can see how poorly most of the infrastructure has been maintained. The structures erected during the regime, easy to pick out due to the aesthetically nauseating architectural style that the ‘60s and ‘70s are known for, now loom over the city like Alfredo’s ghost…Boo! Indeed, even the minimum services taken for granted in developed countries like waste management and sanitation are virtually non-existent in most parts of the Country. Trash is burned, buried, or hopefully recycled into something useful around the house. But I digress…

My host family was so excited because they had done a lot of legwork to help this cause for change. I gave Nunilla, my landlord's mom-in-law with whom I share the property I live on, a hug and she told me “we’ve won the battle but not the war”. The big sea change will be a party shift in the presidency. No matter the outcome, I hope that whoever assumes power will spend on health and education because those areas are very much lacking in most of the country.

I spoke with Nunilla’s husband yesterday at length about the political climate and local issues and he agree to help me with my CNA or Community Needs Assessment. The idea is to analyze the community in which you are living politically, economically, socially, etc. and find a way to use the resources at your disposal to address needs in your community. It is pretty involved and I hope to do a thorough job.

In other news, I recently discovered a jaguar tooth! I found it in the lake after a run. I’m not one hundred percent sure if it is legal to possess these things, but I’m sorry it had been there for a while. It is absolutely amazing to hold in your hands and imagine the beast from whence it came. It is as large as my thumb and I think it is only one of the bottom set. How the hell did human’s come to conquer this planet when creatures like this used to roam free and prey upon our ancestors. Pretty wild.

Finally, I will be celebrating my twenty fourth birthday of the 25^th of this month and then heading out the following day to Guarambare to spend thanksgiving with my first host family, la familia Sanchez Mendenez, and celebrate dear Lorena’s seventeenth birthday. I am planning it as a surprise with her mom so I’m really excited. Lorena and I were really close during my first few months in PY and it is such a privilege to be close enough to be apart of their family milestones and repay the kindness and love they showed me when I could barely communicate.