*Originally Posted April 21, 2008*
Paraguay is also in the middle of a history-making Presidential race, pitted between what could be the first Paraguayan female President, or the first former-bishop Paraguayan President. The three contributors to this column are a combined 1/3 Paraguayan and therefore 1/3 awesome. There are already 2 female Presidents in power in South America, and Hillary is still in the race up here. All you feminist readers out there better be happy. Paraguay, on the other hard...not so much. 21% of the country is in extreme poverty, it is the second poorest country in South America, and also one of the most corrupt. TIME magazine says it as follows:
"For most of its history, Paraguay has been almost a caricature of the right-wing South American military republic. Its infamous 19th-century dictator, General Francisco Solano Lopez had his own mother flogged in public and then made the nation's Roman Catholic bishops declare him a saint; its equally villainous 20th-century tyrant, General Alfredo Stroessner, turned the country into a haven for Nazi war criminals. Ever since, Paraguay has struggled to be seen as something more than a benighted agricultural backwater wedged between Brazil and Argentina.."
It doesn't sound so good, but they are getting back on track with two-party elections. Good for you, motherland!
No comments:
Post a Comment