Paraguay declared its independence from Buenos Aires on May 14, 1811, after nearly fifty years of being dependent on the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.  José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the first dictator of Paraguay, officially declared Paraguay to be an Independent Republic on October 12, 1813.  Francia soon began to be known as ‘El Supremo,’ and prohibited political activity among the civilians, took funds from the Paraguayan elite, stripped the church of power, and isolated Paraguay from neighboring countries.  Francia also allowed for executions of those that might have thought to challenge his rule, causing Paraguay to live in fear under his command.  However, one good thing that came out of the dictatorship was the fact that due to Paraguay being sealed off from their neighbors, they became almost entirely self-sufficient, meaning that once Francia had passed, the republic was able to prosper and grow in wealth very quickly.  In 1844 Paraguay named their first president, Carlos Antonio López, and a constitution was made that allowed the people of Paraguay to have rights for the first time.  Since then, Paraguay has had their fair share of various leadership come in and out of the office, with the country most recently redoing their constitution on June 20, 1992.  The country currently has a population of around 7,000,000 people.  (Butland, Painter, Service, Nickson, & Williams, 2018)

Paraguay is a Republic, led by President Mario Abdo Benítez.  President Abdo Benítez was just sworn in on August 16, 2018.  He and the former president both represent the Conservative Colorado Party, which is the longest continuously running political party in the world, being in power since the 1940’s with only one interruption.  This is not hard to believe, as almost 90% of the population identifies as Roman Catholic, with nearly all of the remaining 10% identifying to a Christian religion.   Political parties include the Conservative Colorado Party, Paraguayan Communist Party, Beloved Fatherland Party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens, Patriotic Alliance for Change, Authentic Radical Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party.   The president is elected by a simple majority and must be Paraguayan by birth and at least 35-years-old, similar to the United States.   Additionally, the First Lady is an official position in Paraguay, so his wife, Silvana López Moreira, is also an important figure in Paraguayan politics. (New Paraguayan President Abdo Benítez sworn in, 2018)

The election of President Abdo Benítez was met with much controversy, as his father served as the personal secretary to Paraguay’s last dictator, Alfredo Stroessner.  Stroessner ruled over Paraguay from 1954-1989 and therefore was one of Latin America’s longest-serving rulers before being overthrown. (Carneri & Londoño, 2018)

In Paraguay, people are bilingual, speaking Guarani and Spanish with many speaking English as well.  People speak Guarani more in a one-on-one conversational setting, with Spanish reserved for more formal situations like a news broadcast or a political speech.  (Nag, 2017)  Their GDP as of 2017 is 29.73 Billion in US dollars, which is lower than that of nearby countries Uruguay and Bolivia.  (Paraguay GDP, 2018)  Their top Import and Export partner is Brazil, with electrical energy being their top export and petroleum oils being the top import. (Paraguay Trade at a Glance, Various Dates)

The recent changes to the constitution guarantee freedom of the press, with these freedoms steadily becoming more prevalent throughout Paraguayan journalism.  While their journalists do not enjoy nearly the freedoms as journalists do in America, the country is steadily making steps in the right direction.  An ‘Access to Information’ law came into effect in September 2015, allowing journalists to investigate multiple scandals that affected many of the Paraguayan people.  In 2014, three journalists were murdered in Paraguay.  One of these reporters, Pablo Medina, had received threats in connection to his reporting.  Medina’s brother, a radio journalist, was murdered in 2001.  While it seems like it is currently an unsafe place for journalists, it appears Paraguay is making steps toward achieving more freedoms for their press. (Paraguay, 2018)

There are around 150,000 newspapers that get circulated daily.  This is a small number considering there are around 7,000,000 people, but most Paraguayans receive their news through radio and not in print.  One of the news sites I found over and over again was called ‘Hoy,’ which is the Spanish word for ‘Today.’  Although the articles were hard for me to understand as I don’t speak Spanish fluently yet, it appeared that a lot of their news is written similarly to American news, albeit a bit more polite.   (HOY, 2018)
One interesting story I found across multiple media (including two Paraguayan sites and one American site) was on Thursday, October 11, young women took the symbolic roles of high authority throughout Paraguay, including the President, Ministry of Education, school directors, executive secretaries, CEOs, and many more roles.  (Niñas asumen el poder por un día, 2018)  One thing I noticed about this story being portrayed differently in Paraguay versus America was that the American story focused on the violence carried out against women in Paraguay, whereas the two stories from Paraguay focused more on what the actual day would be consisting of for the country.  (Reuters, 2018)  I tried to find a similar story for Brazil as it is very close to Paraguay but was unable to find anything about the ‘Day of the Girl.’  Because of this, I search a Brazilian news site for mentions of Paraguay, and to my shock, the only story written about Paraguay in the past six years was about soccer (futbol).  I searched another site and had similar results, which surprised me, as I feel like in America when big things happen in Mexico or Canada, we are typically aware of them if we watch the news.  (The Rio Times, 2018)

Advertising in Paraguay is typically on radio or TV, with billboards, print ads, and mail far less prevalent.  Ads are viewed on cellular phones as well, but on June 30, 2017, a law was passed that prohibits unauthorized advertising, giving cell phone users the option of whether they wish to receive the advertising, which reminds me of text advertisements with the option to ‘opt out’ at any time.   The capital, Asuncion, is the biggest playground for advertisers with a high majority of the population residing there.  Most advertisements are in Spanish as advertisements are seen as formal ways of communicating with one another.  (Rodriguez-Ferrand, 2017)  I researched one of the top universities in Paraguay, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, and found that its website was not nearly as branded with advertising as most universities around here.  It was more informative than appealing and finding any advertising for this university was just about impossible.  This makes me think that perhaps young people in Paraguay are more interested in cold hard facts about a school than they are about how this school is advertised.  In contrast, I searched for Texas Wesleyan’s advertising, and there were hundreds if not thousands of quick results that linked to photos of billboards and videos of our commercials.  (Universidad Nacional de Asunción, 2018)

In summary, Paraguay is a far more developed country than I had originally thought it would be.  While it is not yet on par with the level of media saturation that exists in America, most Paraguayans have access to the internet and cellular phones, and their press has many more rights that I was expecting.  While they still have a way to go in ensuring the safety of their young people and women, it was inspiring to see that a place many would never think to research is doing pretty well for themselves.  I am glad I chose to research Paraguay, as it is interesting to see a country that operates pretty similarly to the USA that also has its struggles.  I am planning to continue trying to keep up with Paraguay and hopefully watching as it becomes a more and more established country and makes its name known to the rest of the world.

 

Works Cited

(2018). Retrieved from The Rio Times: https://riotimesonline.com/

(2018). Retrieved from Universidad Nacional de Asunción: http://www.una.py/

Butland, G. J., Painter, J. E., Service, E. R., Nickson, R. A., & Williams, J. H. (2018, August 15). Paraguay. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/place/Paraguay

Carneri, S., & Londoño, E. (2018, April 22). His Father Aided a Dictator. Paraguay Elected Him President. The New York Times. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/world/americas/paraguay-election-mario-abdo-benitez.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Paraguay&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

Greenslade, R. (2014, October 17). Paraguayan reporter murdered months after receiving death threats. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/oct/17/journalist-safety-paraguay

HOY. (2018, October 11). Retrieved from Niñas asumirán como máximas autoridades por un día en busca de igualdad: https://www.hoy.com.py/nacionales/ninas-asumiran-como-maximas-autoridades-por-un-dia-en-busca-de-igualdad

Nag, O. S. (2017, August 1). What Languages Are Spoken In Paraguay? Retrieved from World Atlas: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-paraguay.html

New Paraguayan President Abdo Benítez sworn in. (2018, August 16). BBC News. Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45200965

Niñas asumen el poder por un día. (2018, October 11). Retrieved from Paraguay.com: http://www.paraguay.com/nacionales/ninas-asumen-el-poder-por-un-dia-183204

Paraguay – Trade Promotion and Advertising. (2017, July 6). Retrieved from Export.gov: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Paraguay-Trade-Promotion-and-Advertising

Paraguay. (2018). Retrieved from Committee to Protect Journalists: https://cpj.org/americas/paraguay/

Paraguay GDP . (2018). Retrieved from Trading Economics: https://tradingeconomics.com/paraguay/gdp

Paraguay Trade at a Glance . (Various Dates). Retrieved from World Integrated Trade Solution: https://wits.worldbank.org/CountrySnapshot/en/PRY

Reuters. (2018, October 10). ‘President’ For a Day, Schoolgirl in Paraguay Shines Light on Violence, Equality. Retrieved from Voa News: https://www.voanews.com/a/paraguay-girls-rights/4608765.html

Rodriguez-Ferrand, G. (2017, August 1). Paraguay: New Law Prohibiting Unauthorized Advertising on Cellular Phones. Retrieved from Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/paraguay-new-law-prohibiting-unauthorized-advertising-on-cellular-phones/

The World Factbook: Paraguay. (2018, October 2). Retrieved from CIA: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pa.html