Presidential Elections

There’s going to be a presidential election here in Paraguay at the end of this month (April 20th). We’ve been hearing a lot about the candidates and about Paraguayan history over these last couple of months. Three candidates from three parties are competing in this final presidential election:

Blanca Ovelar- Colorado Party,

The standing president, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, is at his term limit (one term of 5 years- though he did try to pass legislation allowing him to have another term!) and is now running for a senate position (some have indicated this is part of his plan to remain in power). His choosen colorado party successor is Blanca Ovelar (again, some say she was picked as a person loyal to Nicanor, and who will help him stay in power). The colorado party dates back to the late 1940’s when Stroessner came to power here in Paraguay, and having ruled Paraguay for over 61 years it is the longest ruling party in the world! Stroessner used the colorado party to legitimise his dictatorship and to maintain his power. He also used it effectively to supress other groups. Since his rise to power, up though today, the colorado political party has maintained a majority control over the “political” process in Paraguay, even after Stroessner was overthrown in a coup in 1989, February 2-3. Needless to say, there is great historical inertia for another Colrado to take the reins. Adding to this is the fact that Presidents, and ruling parties have the power to appoint in many many governmental positions- so a change in ruling party would lead to a potential in power and influence throughout the country, especially since things get done largely by who you know- more inertia and resistance to change.

This has turned into a lengthier post than I planned, so I will post about the other 2 candidates in upcoming days. For anyone interested in more detailed information about Paraguay, it’s people, culture and history, the Library of Congress has some very comprehensive information.

As we watch the elections process here in Paraguay, I keep wondering what this process has to teach us about the U.S. presidential elections process. These two cultures that are seemingly worlds apart, I believe, actually have a great deal in common if their power structures are looked at from a macro perspective– multiple levels of abstraction away from the details differentiating our peoples.

Posted in Paraguay | 1 Comment »

Bigger Print, Fewer Words

The title of this post is to honor a request from one of Connecticut’s premier educators, Bradford. He took one look at our blog and offered his assessment that he would be more likely to look at it again if it had a larger font and fewer words. Mortingame.org’s educational consultant has spoken! I’m not actually going to change the font or place less substantive content in the posts, Brad can always watch the FOX network if that’s what he’s interested in.

The real title of this post is: Climate and Security

Mac asked about both climate and security here and his questions got me to thinking about both. I put another weather widget toward the bottom of the sidebar, it gives some more details of our weather- albeit in an unattractive manner. The current temp tells you something about our weather, but to really understand the climate, you need to know the humidity and the wind. We are of course entering Autumn now and things have begun to change. The temperature is still in the high 80’s and low 90’s, but it feels cooler. That’s because the summer has humidity that is through the roof, and very little breeze. There have been many days when swimming feels like a better method of moving about than walking! In the high humidity and high heat, just a few short minutes in direct sunlight can melt a pale-skin like myself. A Paraguayan explained to me that during the Summer what little wind there is comes from the North (from Brazil)– and it is very hot and humid. In the Winter the wind comes out of the South (from Argentina) and it tends to be cooler. Currently we are in a slight seasonal change; there is some more wind at times and it actually brings a little relief. Also we have had a few (2) nights when the temp dropped to the high 60’s! I only ever wear shorts, and I only wear shoes when I leave the house, and then I only wear flip-flops– unless we’re going for a walk at the park (it has a very nice 5K loop with many soccer fields and plenty of trees)

Security: Mac observed from our video that our walls don’t have broken glass mortared into the top and asked about security in our neighborhood. Many homes here in Luque do have the glass-shard security system and some have barbed wire coils, while others even have electrified wire at the top of the wall. As a rule, the nicer the home, the more security there is. But most homes here have only a wall or a fence separating yard from street. I believe that in Asuncion you would find more common the glass on walls. Here is a pic I snapped of a wall just a few blocks from our home.

What I’ve been thinking about more than wall structure, is our own sense of security here in Luque. When we first arrived, everyone seemed to be saying that we needed to be very careful, especially at night. We kept hearing that things were not as safe as they used to be- during the long rule of Stroessner. So we were very cautious as we moved into our new home on our noisy street. As I considered Mac’s question about our sense of security, I realized that we do indeed feel very safe here in Luque. I have never been hassled or hustled here. I walk alone, or with Ofelia, through town and get nothing but kindness. There is no shortage of extreme poverty but no begging here in Luque. I had to worry more in Philadelphia about being approached and asked for money and scammed, much more so than here. And I routinely felt much more unsafe walking the streets and subway tunnels in Philly than I do here. When driving into Asuncion there are “homeless looking” people who tend to hang out in the medians and ask for money at the stoplights. There are also more legit vendors who sell from the medians at intersections. Most will try to clean your windshield or provide some other service– i.e. selling fruit (we get good bananas and pineapples from them), or windshield wipers, or newspapers. And we have even seen a small boy performing cartwheels for stopped cars!

We live on a busy street that has steady foot and vehicle traffic through the day and into the night. We venture out less at night, but that is due to Ofelia sleeping. I do believe that there is cause for caution at night, especially later, and if you’re not on a main street, but still I feel safer here than I did in Philly. The difference is that here I cannot call the police if in a pinch and I cannot anticipate police traffic. Thankfully we’ve not needed their “help.”

We indeed feel very fortunate to have such a sense of safety living in this foreign culture and country. It is also nice to pause and reflect, and realize just how comfortable we have come to feel here. We’re adjusting well. Thanks for the questions.

Posted in Luque, Process | 6 Comments »